A Failure in Every Way…!

If we were to conduct an opinion poll among Belize City residents today, we would quickly find out that Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers is suffering from an extremely low job approval rating.  And it is not as if though her numbers hit rock bottom on account of unpopular steps, such as cutting municipal spending, that she has taken to put in order the City Council’s business.  On the contrary, we think that she has done absolutely nothing for the city or its residents.

In fact, if much of the mayor’s job involved only being a figurehead, representing the city during official ceremonies, such as the Independence Day Celebrations and ribbon cutting events, and flying away to exotic lands to attend international conferences then Moya Flowers would have our goodwill.  We cannot deny that she has taken full advantage of every opportunity to have her face splattered in the media, and she has surely racked up those coveted frequent flyer miles jet setting around the world with her husband in tow.  Of course it is not.  It is a fulltime job.

But a well paid one.  Moya Flowers is reportedly taking home $10,000 a month in salary and benefits.  Yet she cannot find the time to do a good job unless her family and close friends stand to benefit financially from her actions.  Since she took office in March 2006, she has constantly displayed that she knows little about public finance and that she is incapable of running the country’s largest municipal government despite her much touted Master’s degree.  The city is broke and there is no immediate relief in sight that will close the shortfall because the central government well has run dry.  We are truly not getting value for our hard earned taxes.

Apart from the burgeoning fiscal imbalance, the city is also in a physical mess.  There are piles of garbage strewn everywhere in the commercial, residential, and public areas, while residents have to put up with clogged drains, tall grass and bushes, potholed streets, flooded streets whenever it rains, and public buildings that have been left to fall into a state of disrepair.  To make matters worse, city residents are flocking to the emergency room because of diseases such as dengue that are spread by mosquitoes which thrive in the high grass and settled water in drains.

Despite this, Moya Flowers has not put forward any plans to ameliorate the conditions of the beleaguered city, such as specific recommendations on what the Council should do in order to set it on a firm financial footing, and start providing the basic services, such as garbage collection and street repairs, to residents.  To us, the city appears rudderless and dysfunctional at best.  It is as though she has no vision.  But that was to be expected.  After all, it is no surprise that she is all pomp and circumstance and no substance.

And because of Moya Flowers’ incompetence, Belize Maintenance Limited that is charged with keeping the city clean this week had to lay off 100 workers who are wondering where they will find employment in our contracting economy to keep their families from falling below the poverty level.  The Council once again reneged on its promise to pay its outstanding debts to the company and cannot find the money to pay its weekly subvention.  Expect the garbage to pile up higher throughout the city.  The Grinch has nothing on our fair mayor.

We know that there is no panacea that will cure what ails the city.  But anything just now will be a welcome change to what Moya Flowers and her councilors are doing.  In all fairness, she is not up to the job.  She has had all the time necessary and has not come up with a plan to transform the city.  Actually, the state of the city has gotten worse under her guidance.  Day by day, she is making us regret our choice that made her the city’s mayor because she has so far failed miserably at providing leadership of any kind.

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