$75M in equipment expected for City Hall by next month

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is currently awaiting some $75 million in equipment to serve in the Solid Waste Department, which is expected to arrive in one month’s time.
This was related to Guyana Times by the Director of Solid Waste, Walter Narine on Saturday. He informed that the contract for the supply and delivery of a garbage truck, as well as a tractor and two trailers went to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) earlier this year.
According to Narine, Industrial Supplies of Guyana (ISG) won the bid for the supply of the garbage truck and should be in a position to deliver it in about 30 days’ time.
He revealed that City Hall initially intended to purchase two garbage trucks, but was unable to do so, since it would have exceeded its $75 million budget.
It is because of this the garbage truck project was retendered, since they had invited bids for two trucks. Narine explained that the cost for one of the garbage trucks amounted to about $40 million.
In a quest to not only lower its expenses but generate an income, the Mayor and City Council made the decision to purchase its very own garbage trucks.
The projects for the much-needed pieces of equipment were taken to NPTAB under the Communities Ministry.
“Ministry of Communities, of course, is doing all the tendering from Government and also on our behalf. Ministry of Communities would have advertised for tender in the newspapers and interested suppliers would have sent in their tender documents,” the Director had previously explained to this publication.
He said that during a statutory meeting held earlier in the year, the Council decided that $75 million would be allocated to his department, to fund the purchase of the vehicles.
The equipment the M&CC purchased were financed using the $200 million subvention from the Communities Ministry, which was granted in this year’s budget.
The country’s two largest garbage collection companies – Puran Brothers Disposal and Cevons Waste Management – withdrew their services on July 30, 2017, as City Hall’s debts had risen to the multimillion-dollar range.
According to the companies, the issue of non-payment has been a long-standing one, with many debts going as far back as 2015.
However, they have since resumed collection after the municipality approached Central Government through the Communities Ministry for a bailout of $475,635,245 to settle the city’s debt to Puran Brothers and Cevons.
The bailout was granted and Central Government decided to pick up the tab until December 31, 2017.