THE Mayor and City Council has announced effective from September 1, 2017 it will begin charging a nominal fee for the collection and disposal of commercial and industrial waste, generated within the City of Georgetown.

The decision was taken by Council after extensive consultations and discussions with different stakeholders, including members of the local private sector and non-governmental organisations and community based groups, the M&CC said in a release on Monday.
It was agreed that the fees will be charged within three (3) categories – Small businesses ($5,000 per month), Medium businesses ($8,000 per month), and Large businesses ($12,000 per month). In addition, a special arrangement will be put in place for private contractors who haul industrial and commercial waste through the City to compensate citizens, by paying a percentage of the cost charged against businesses.
The release noted that over the last three years, some 2,232,235 tons of garbage was collected and disposed of at a cost of $1.4B. And, for this year, the Council has budgeted $1.2 billion for waste collection.

According to the M&CC, the Council must expend in excess of $50M per month to dispose of the city’s waste. “In reality the council is subsidising the collection and disposal of the city’s waste. However, the council could no longer sustain this on its current very narrow revenue base, it has to broaden its revenue base.”
It was noted that while solid waste management is vital to the good health and well-being of citizens and their local neighbourhoods, the Council is not prepared to compromise this aspect of its statutory responsibility even in the face of financial and other shortages. “In the circumstances, the council is happy to report that all areas of the city continue to receive garbage clearance by the council. Additionally, there have been some delays due to mechanical and other short comings and the fact that, some of our staff are not very familiar with some of the inner streets in some local communities. But these have been remedied and over the coming weeks council will approve this service to citizens.”

Additionally, the Council said it is grateful for the cooperation and understanding it has been receiving from residents. Nevertheless, it is the collective view of council that community leaders and their groups could do more to improve environmental health in their communities, by ensuring that all residents have proper garbage receptacles to store and dispose of garbage, encourage residents to take responsibility for the physical condition of their communities and continue to raise awareness about the importance about a clean and healthy environment to good health and life.

Over the next two weeks, the council will put in the streets of Georgetown patrols armed with cameras and other things to persuade litter bugs to desist from hurting the environment and to contribute to the sustainable development of the City of Georgetown. Also, the council will be moving apace to seek the support of the competent authorities to introduce the ticketing system against litter and the indiscriminate dumping of garbage in the City, the release added. “Once again, the council wishes to thank all of its citizens for their cooperation to its effort to clean up Georgetown and to keep it clean in this difficult time when it is experiencing certain shortages to manage effectively and efficiently all of its responsibilities to all communities,” the release concluded.