The Georgetown Mayor and City Council wishes to inform the public that it is continuing to make every effort to return its garbage collection service to a state of normalcy, according to a statement from City Hall yesterday. “However, the municipality has not been able to garner the required sums that would allow the garbage contractors to resume collection in various city wards. Council is aware that this negative situation is posing a serious inconvenience and discomfort to many citizens. It is doing the best it can in very daunting circumstances. The reality is without money, the Council cannot provide services to the city.
“The Council is woefully short on money, equipment and personnel, to provide even the core services to citizens. The average household in a local community in the city pays between $1,000 and $9,000 per year for garbage collection and disposal, while general rates applied to a typical house in Georgetown is about $3,000 per year. Also, the Council is forced to expend $1M to pick up parapet waste. Last year, council expended $225M to remove and dispose waste.
“When one add to that, the fact that Council provides a plethora of other services, including roads, drainage, street lights, law enforcement, public health services, vector control, maternal and child welfare and municipal markets, and the fact that there has been no increase in general rates since 1997, one gets a clearer picture of the challenges confronting the municipality.
“Many businesses owe the Council millions of dollars. The Council has initiated legal proceedings against quite a few of them. It has already gotten judgement against two big companies. But many more need to come forward and settle their accounts at City Hall.
“At the moment, the City Engineer and the Solid Waste Management have teamed up to mobilise available resources to provide collection service to certain areas in the city, particularly in the central commercial areas of the city and the markets, the abattoir and the hospital. In addition, the Council provided collection to a few areas including Alberttown, parts of Albouystown and Charlestown. The team has slated a number of other sections for collection service within the next few days.
“As a result, the Council is asking citizens to assist wherever they can.
“One way by which citizens can help is by desisting from dumping refuse on parapets and other open spaces. The truth is dumping garbage on the roadside and parapets could not help the health of the environment nor the community. People who engage in this practice are merely shifting the problem “down the road”. The Solid Waste Management Department reported that there are over 200 mini-dumpsites throughout the city. This is unacceptable, even in the current situation. In fact, these sites existed even when our collection was on schedule.
“This practice contributes to the proliferation of mosquitoes, flies, rodents and other vectors, which carry certain diseases. Another way citizens can help is by not burning the refuse. The close proximity of houses as well as the emissions of such fires makes it an unsafe approach to disposal.
“However, citizens can bury their garbage. This has two values: it raises the level of low areas in yards, and enriches the soil. This has great utility for gardening and other such activities.
“The Council is grateful to those corporations and businesses which have been assisting to collect refuse from different sections” the statement concludes.