Two contractors explain rejection of City Hall proposal
PURAN Brothers Disposal Services and Cevon’s Waste Management Inc. yesterday explained why they rejected a proposal by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), on Monday, to pay them for two weeks only.

The Puran Brothers representative told the Guyana Chronicle that officials of the municipality offered to hand over the meager amount for part of March but have not even made that sum available as yet.

He called the offer “ridiculous” because they are owed for the months of March, April, May and part of June and the sum the M&CC was offering cannot run the company’s operations for two weeks.

He said it is for that reason Puran Brothers requested payments for at least two months.

He lamented that this is not the first time the company has been dealt with like that and remarked that it is an ongoing problem.

“We don’t have funds to continue at present. All our resources are exhausted,” he bemoaned, adding that the company will not resume its services unless more than that owing for two weeks is paid.

Office Manager at Cevon’s, Ms. Alicia Edghill, told the Guyana Chronicle it suspended garbage collection on Monday because the M&CC now owes it $29M since March.

She said the municipality proposed to pay for two weeks but Cevon’s could not accept that as it presently is indebted to Guyoil and other creditors.

She said the two weeks proposition cannot cover those debts and Cevon’s will not be restarting its services until a substantial sum is received.

An employee of Crawler and Wheeler Tractor Spares, who preferred anonymity like the one of Puran Brothers, said yesterday that the former company has not ceased its operations because M&CC has paid its outstanding amount for March.

But he said he hopes the Council will soon make more payments as it is still two months behind.

ULTIMATUM

M&CC has failed to meet an ultimatum and two of the garbage contractors stopped working on Monday.

As a result, City Hall Public Relations Officer,  Mr. Royston King said garbage will not be collected from Kitty, J&K Campbellville, Newtown, West Ruimveldt, South Ruimveldt Gardens, East Ruimveldt, Werk-en-Rust, Wortmanville, Belvoir Court, Prashad Nagar, Jacksonville Housing Scheme, North Ruimveldt, North and South Cummingsburg, Lacytown, Robbstown, Bourda, Alberttown, Kingston, South Ruimveldt Park and Lodge.

He said, today, collections will not be made from Newtown, Kitty, A-D Campbellville, East Ruimveldt, La Penitence, Robbstown, Sophia, Blygezight, Lodge Housing Scheme, South Ruimveldt Gardens, Shirley Field-Ridley Square, North and South Cummingsburg, Bourda, Lacytown, Bel Air Promenade, Bel Air, Thorne’s Drive, Century Palm Gardens, South Ruimveldt Park, Roxanne Burnham Gardens and Guyhoc Gardens.

King said the Council is working assiduously to garner enough money to pay its contractors as well as honour its other financial obligations, including paying wages and salaries to its employees.

He said, meantime, the Council has started to mobilise its own resources to provide temporary collection in the main commercial areas of the city, including the abattoir, hospitals and the municipal markets.

King said the Administration is also contemplating providing garbage clearance in a few city wards.

He said: “The M&CC continues to ask citizens for their understanding and patience during this period when it is faced with this critical financial challenge.”

King said, presently, M&CC is in the process of distributing 28,000 demand notices to property owners for them to settle their accounts.
He said the municipality has also initiated legal proceedings against defaulters and has a number of them, including businessmen, in Court.