— reject political claims, blame late payments for city garbage woes

Private waste management companies servicing Georgetown have rejected suggestions that they are sabotaging the city’s garbage collection, instead pointing to chronic late payments from City Hall as the root cause of ongoing challenges.

Contractors insisted they are “business people” bound by contract, not by politics, and remain committed to keeping the city clean.

“We don’t play politics. We are here to provide a service based on a contract that we sign, and we are obligated to do so,” Timothy Tucker, a private contractor, said , adding that timely payment from City Hall was essential for them to operate effectively.

Contractors complained that they are often left waiting four to five months for payment, a situation they say makes it difficult to maintain the level of service residents expect.

“Any sabotage may be coming from the mayor and city council, because we do not usually be paid on time,” another private contractor stated, describing recent comments by the mayor as “very disturbing” but vowing to “push through” and continue serving the city.

Lakenauth Puran, Director of Puran Brothers, underscored that garbage collection is “serious business” for the company, which is contracted by the City Council.

He said the company has had no major challenges this year and that all scheduled garbage has been collected on time, reiterating that they avoid political involvement and focus on fulfilling their contractual duties.

Business Development Officer, Morris Archer from Cevon’s Waste Management, a private firm operating in Georgetown for more than 25 years, also expressed disappointment with the mayor’s remarks, stressing that the company is not aligned to any political party.

“We’ve worked with multiple administrations and multiple governments, and we are not in the business of sabotaging any garbage collection,” Archer said, emphasising that their sole priority is servicing residents.

Despite payment delays and varying challenges, all contractors present pledged to continue providing waste collection services to the best of their ability, while calling on City Hall to meet its financial obligations so the city can be kept to an acceptable standard.

RELIEF

On Tuesday, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Priya Manickchand disclosed that immediate relief is on the way for residents of Georgetown following mounting complaints about the city’s deteriorating sanitation conditions.

In a statement, the minister disclosed that she met with garbage collectors contracted by the Georgetown City Council after what she described as the municipal body’s failure to take “practical or sensible” action to address the situation.

On Monday, the Mayor, Alfred Mentore and councillors aligned to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) backed out of a scheduled engagement aimed at charting a way forward on the city’s worsening solid-waste disposal challenges.

Minister Manickchand had disclosed that the mayor had initially accepted an invitation to attend a closed-door meeting at 11:00hrs to discuss a way forward for solid-waste management in the capital.

“No APNU councillor was present at the meeting,” the minister stated, adding that councillors who did arrive later received calls and “hurriedly left the compound.”

According to Minister Manickchand, the decision to widen the invitation was intended to foster inclusive dialogue and benefit from the perspectives of councillors representing residents across the city.

The sudden withdrawals, she noted, undermined ongoing efforts to build a collaborative working relationship between central government and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
In view of the developments, Minister Manickchand said she invited members of the media to be briefed on the extent of work already undertaken by her ministry to improve coordination with the M&CC, as well as on “various discussions that have been had where commitments were made by the M&CC but not kept.”

“It is clear the Mayor and APNU councillors benefit in some way from a city that is approaching being inhabitable,” the minister said.
Within recent weeks, there have been complaints in numerous areas about a disruption in garbage-collection services.

Residents in areas such as Campbellville and Tucville reported that during the Christmas season, they observed a delay in garbage collection. In downtown Georgetown, there are growing piles of garbage.