–just one garbage bin per household

HEAD of Solid Waste Management in the city, Mr. Walter Narine, has said that the rates and taxes residents pay to the City Council only provide for the collection and disposal of garbage in one waste receptacle.  In other words, garbage collectors are required by law to clear one receptacle; and if residents have more, they would be required to pay a fee to have the rest disposed of.

According to Narine, residents should call the Municipal Solid Waste Management Department on 223-5127, 223-5126, and 223-5128 for information on how such waste can be collected and disposed of.    “Bulky waste include old fridges, stoves, washing machines, sofas, tree trimmings, shrubs, bed frames, wood, grass etc. Please note a collection fee will be attached, and upon advice from the Solid Waste Department, you will be required to make all payments to the City Treasurer Department at City Hall before collection and disposal is made,” Narine has said.

At the council’s statutory meeting on Monday, though, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green said she received many complaints that contractors were emptying only one barrel, and asking residents to pay for the others.

“I don’t understand if the contractors don’t understand their role, but it’s been reported to my office that the trucks collect one drum and tell you you have to pay for the others,” the mayor said, adding:    “Town Clerk, this is unacceptable! They only intend to do one pick-up a day through the streets of Georgetown!”     When asked for clarity on the issue, Narine said emptying only one receptacle is comsistent with the laws governing the municipality. “It is unacceptable for them to have more than one bins,” Narine said, adding:    “Take a walk down Regent Street any morning and you will see how much garbage a store has; look down your street and see how many bins one household has.     “The law is clear, but we still carry all their waste and don’t complain.”

Meanwhile, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is finding it increasingly difficult to cover garbage collection on its own in Georgetown, and now wants to reduce collections in some quarters due to the overwhelmingly high amounts of waste generated by some residents.

After its two main contractors, Purans Disposal Services and Cevons Waste Management, pulled their services early in August, the M&CC had boasted that this new development has opened their eyes to the possibility of providing the same services competently on their own, and that the money saved could be paid to the contractors to cover heavy, outstanding debts.

But Narine told the Guyana Chronicle earlier this week that areas such as Charlestown, Albouystown, Wortmanville and Werk-en-Rust are producing significantly more waste than other neighbourhoods, and that twice-weekly clearance will have to be changed to once weekly because the council’s resources are limited at the moment.
However, residents of Charlestown and Albouystown have confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle that they are hardly getting even the once-per-week clearance. “We put out our barrels and leave them there for days, and then we just take them back inside when we are tired of waiting,” a resident of St. Stephens Street, Charlestown said on condition of anonymity.

Narine is saying that the above-mentioned areas are producing approximately 26 tonnes of refuse weekly, as compared to the other groups in Georgetown that produce about eight to 12 tonnes weekly.
Town Clerk Royston King last week said the M&CC is looking forward to opening new talks with the contractors, and setting up new conditions, especially since the contracts are up for review in October.

The contracts, which feature a review clause, remain in force until 2020.
City Hall, through its Solid Waste Management Department, has undertaken to provide garbage collection and disposal services throughout Georgetown, with assistance from a few small contractors.

But King has subsequently reported that the trucks and other equipment belonging to M&CC are very old and have never been subjected to this type of pressure before, since the municipality had been depending on the contractors.