— say were robbed by impersonators of M&CC officials

RESIDENTS around Georgetown are complaining bitterly about the accumulation of trash in their surroundings and have contended that the situation is due to the negligence of garbage collectors hired by City Hall.

The odour from the garbage was very noticeable, reaching the nose before the actual piles were seen when Guyana Chronicle visited various areas around Georgetown on Wednesday.

Some residents of Durban Street expressed dissatisfaction with the garbage collection in their area, claiming that for almost two weeks they had to find alternative ways of disposing their refuse.
The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) had recruited Sandip Disposal Services, C&S Waste Disposal, and Campbelles Waste Disposal to dispose of garbage after Cevons Waste Management Services and Puran Brothers Disposal Inc ceased their services to the City.
The two companies are owed over $300M by City Hall.

City residents say since the new contractors came on board, they have been experiencing difficulties in getting rid of their refuse.
Residents of Lodge, South Ruimveldt and Durban Street told this publication that they have been paying cart operators to dispose their garbage.

“They charging us according to how much garbage we got… a day I had to pay $4,000 just to empty/ throw away the garbage,” Wendy Michaels, a resident of Lodge said.
In addition, she alleged that persons who identified themselves as employees of the M&CC, visited the area and collected money to dispose of garbage. They never returned, she said.
When contacted by this newspaper, Director of Solid Waste Management, Walter Narine, confirmed that they received reports of persons impersonating workers of the M&CC and charging residents for the disposal of garbage.

He said according to residents, the contractor was charging $1,000 per bag of garbage. A notice was sent out by the Council, warning residents about fraudsters.
Persons were also warned about using cart operators to dispose of their garbage because the operators dump the refuse in the Le Repentir Cemetery.
“We had locked the cemetery but when our officers visited, the lock was broken and we found piles of garbage in the area,” said Narine.

He urged persons to be patient because the new contractors are “learning the areas” and within the next few weeks everything is expected to be back to normal.
“As we speak, the contractors are running the wards and getting the garbage off the streets… persons are accustom to getting rid of their garbage early in the day, but they need to understand our situation,” he said.

It was reported that Town Clerk, Royston King, said even if citizens pay all of their outstanding taxes, the Council would still fall short of enough money to cover everything it has to do.

King said the implementation of a new fee is in order because the service of waste disposal is a very expensive one that the Council cannot currently afford.