PURAN Brothers Disposal Inc. is still waiting on payment of some $40M owed to them by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) since last year August. Kalesh Puran, Manager of Puran Brothers, told the Guyana Chronicle on Friday that the company has been calling the City Council regularly but has not gotten a positive response with regards to payments. He is hoping that some kind of payment will be handed over shortly.

Puran observed that Georgetown was recently cleaned to a certain level but is now returning to a deplorable state. He believes this is so because the company’s four garbage trucks were pulled off of the road.

MINIMAL GARBAGE COLLECTION
The amount owing to Puran Brothers is for services carried out in Georgetown’s ‘Groups 7 and 8’. Citizens in these areas have been left with minimal garbage collection services ever since the city council’s trucks have been assigned to clear these locations.
Group 7 takes in areas in the city such as Costello Housing Scheme, West and East La Penitence, North East La Penitence, Middle Road, La Penitence, Jeeboo Land, and Extra Nuclear. Group 8 includes Queenstown, Alberttown, North and South Cummingsburg, Kingston and Woolford Avenue.
Puran had told the Chronicle recently that the last payment made to them by the City Council was last October for services outside of Groups 7 and 8. He lamented the fact that they cannot continue to work without being paid for so many months.
The company has time and again checked with the Treasury Department but could not secure a proper answer with regards to payment, or at least a proposal that they might be able to work with.
“We are hoping for some payment soon. This is an ongoing issue. It’s a new year; we need to move forward. We have been going through this for many years,” said Puran.
Currently, four trucks remain parked and workers had to be sent on annual leave. The company values their employees because they often find difficulty recruiting people for the job. Puran pointed out also that the trucks were designed for garbage collection and hence cannot be used in the meantime for other purposes.

SOOBA’S POSITION

Contacted for a comment on the issue, acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba would only say that the city councillors have refused to sign the payment vouchers for Puran Brothers Disposal Inc. to be paid. To her knowledge, the councillors have no reason for doing so.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told this newspaper that Sooba is “totally dishonest”, and that the municipality is not aware of any signed contract given to Puran Brothers. “Sooba went against the council’s decision for the Groups 7 and 8 jobs to be tendered out and gave the collection to Puran’s by some unknown arrangement.”
When Sooba was questioned about this at a statutory meeting, she told the council that Puran Brothers was doing voluntary work.
“She (Sooba) of her own decided to give Puran’s the go-ahead. She didn’t bring written contracts because she knew the council would oppose. She must come clean on the way they were contracted. Puran’s will get paid because he works in good faith, but they are now at a standstill,” Chase-Green said.
The Chronicle understands that the jobs have since been tendered out, with Puran Brothers also participating in the bidding process.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)