THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown is calling on owners of derelict vehicles to remove such encumbrances from its parapets and reserves as these provide seclusion for criminal elements that could pounce on unsuspecting victims, particularly in those areas that are without street lights.

Public Relations Officer at the M&CC, Mr. Royston King, said in a press release yesterday that these derelict vehicles also provide harbourage for rodents and other public health nuisances.

According to him, the municipal department removed over ten derelict vehicles from Lodge, as part of an ongoing exercise that will cover all areas of the City.

King said the storage of scrap metal and derelict vehicles on the Council’s reserves is affecting the city treasury and the health of local communities as large piles of scrap metal could be seen spilling on to busy roadways in some sections of the city.

He said the City Engineer has the power to remove such vehicles, cars, drays, barrels, boxes, dust-bins, tree trunks, branches, limbs, etc, and that the cost of removing these could be recovered by the Town Clerk in a court of competent jurisdiction.

King said anything coming into the possession of the City Engineer and remaining unclaimed for a period of one month after the date of its removal may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the Council.

According to him, the improper storage of derelicts is posing serious inconvenience and an extreme hazard to motorists as well as pedestrians, and also damages the shoulders of council’s roads and parapets, forcing the municipality to consider utilising its scarce resources for repairs.

Also he mentioned that some of the materials stored by dealers could be dangerous to the health of local communities as they consist of harmful chemicals. In some cases the noise caused by the constant banging of such metals creates a nuisance to residents.

King said city records show that there are about ten major scrap metal operations in the city and that citizens need to know that such materials should be stored on private land and not on council reserves.

He said 48-hour notices have been served to those conducting operations on the Council’s reserves and if they do not remove, the Council will dispose of their scrap as stipulated by the Municipal and District Councils Act.