THE garbage truck belonging to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been repaired and handed over to the Solid Waste Management Department, Director Walter Narine has informed.

The truck went down recently after working around the clock without any servicing, resulting in Group 10 (the commercial district) and Group 8 (Queenstown to Kingston) being affected.

“The good news [is] that my garbage truck was repaired and handed over to me last Monday, and the hauler truck that transports the dumpsters was also completed and was handed over to me on Tuesday,” Narine told this publication on Wednesday.
“I have my vehicles back, so my areas of concerns, groups 8 and 10, will be serviced by my crew,” he said, adding, “There was no major setback. The void was filled by small contractors, Puran’s and Cevon’s, so those arrangements ceased as of Tuesday and my crew took over.”

Narine said he met with the small contractors last Monday and was able to address some of the concerns that were raised internally and by citizens. These concerns were all accepted and will be corrected immediately, he said.

At the municipality’s most recent statutory meeting at City Hall, the City Council shunned Narine’s recommendation for one more small garbage contractor to be hired.
As a consequence, garbage was building up in two key areas of the City– Groups 8 and 10.

Mayor Ubraj Narine said he did not see it necessary for another such contractor to be hired, but the solid waste director suggested this course of action since the municipality’s garbage truck was down. Hiring another contractor would have meant that the City Council would have had to pay $360,000 a week for clearance in Group 8, and $420,000 a week to clear Group 10.

The compactor in the vicinity of Bounty Supermarket on Water Street was not being emptied, and as such, garbage was being thrown on the streets. The Stabroek Market generates 11 tonnes of garbage daily, according to Narine, and when the compactors are full, the excess garbage is placed on the streets.

Meanwhile, the City Council seems bent on moving ahead with the smaller contractors, as opposed to rehiring Cevons and Purans to work as per normal.

The contractors believe that the municipality is wasting their time, and is making no real effort to resolve the issues surrounding their contracts, which are valid until 2020.
Kaleshwar Puran had said his company was alarmed at the operations of the City Council, especially as the company continues to make every effort to sit and talk with the municipality. He reminded that although the problems originated with the M&CC, his company has acceded to all of the municipality’s requests so far, as it relates to writing the municipality or meeting with it.

Morse Archer of Cevon’s said the City Council seems to be extending the contracts with the smaller contractors every month. “They’re just trying to waste our time. I don’t think they are serious about negotiating with us,” he expressed.