— Commission of Inquiry hears

MAYOR and City Council (M&CC) Solid Waste Director Walter Narine said due to the sloth of the city’s Mechanical Department in repairing three of the city’s garbage trucks, staffers at City Hall idle, while the work was given private contractors.

The city currently sub- contracts its garbage collection mainly to Cevon’s Waste Management and Puran Brothers Inc for millions of dollars. But according to Narine, the city has the personnel to do the work.

“Presently, the Solid Waste Department is equipped with the staff who are well trained and willing; however, it is the equipment that we don’t have; out of the four garbage trucks, only one is operational,” he told the Commission of Inquiry into the operations of City Hall on Wednesday.

This situation, he said, creates a “double dipping” in spending as City Hall has to pay its staff and the contractors
According to Narine, even with the four trucks, City Hall would be unable to fully manage garbage collection in the city. However, with the trucks it would be able to save as much as $20 million per month.

Currently, as much as 90 per cent of the city’s waste management collection is handled by private contractors.
“To manage Georgetown, we would need at least 12 trucks,” Narine remarked
But in the meantime, the city could still save money, only if the mechanical workshop repairs the trucks in a timely manner, Narine said.

“I would’ve vented my total disgust of the operation of the workshop. I think the workshop lacks proper management,” the solid waste director said, adding: “Had they [the workshop] been able to repair the trucks in a timely manner, money could’ve been saved by the council, a large amount and it is erroneous to have staff who could do the work and paying contractors, because they have the equipment and we don’t.”

The mechanical workshop is operated under the City Engineer’s Department.
In the meantime, while waiting on the trucks to be repaired, Narine said he tries as much as possible to find work for the staff, but the drivers were left with nothing to do.

IMPRUDENT SPENDING
Narine also called out the council for imprudent spending.
“The problem with City Council is management. In my management training, the rule of thumb is you can’t spend what you don’t have. The council is run by a budget, if you stick to the budget you don’t have a problem,” he said.

Narine was also bewildered as to why several revenue-generating recommendations that were approved by the houncil have not been implemented
The MCC could have raked in as much as $72million to $80 million if they had implemented a recommendation to put in place a licence for garbage trucks, he told the CoI.
“The MCC is authorised to license all vehicles hauling garbage in the city.

One of my recommendations was to implement a licensing fee. It was tabled at the statutory meeting; it was approved as the means of garnering more revenue for Council, but sadly no [it was never implemented],” Narine said

He added: “Each department would’ve proposed new ways to garner income, but sadly many of those proposals were not implemented and that is what is baffling.”
Narine said he is saddened by how the effects of the imprudent spending has been felt by his staff.

“It’s sad. I have with me in my department a lot of single-parent mothers and to see the state they are in when I go to work, and they share their stories; it’s heart-rending, it’s really, really tough. A staff sat in my office and cried. We need to treat our employees better,” he said.