Garbage contractors still to receive payments from City Hall

Senior officials of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are yet to make contact with the solid waste collectors regarding payment of outstanding money owed to them which is supposed to be paid by the end of 2018.
Business Development Supervisor of Cevon’s Waste Management, Morris Archer made this disclosure on Monday while stating that there was no feedback from the Council since an engagement on December 6, with Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan.
“Since that meeting on December 6, we haven’t heard back from City Hall. We haven’t been paid, or we haven’t received any correspondence or any word on

what is the way forward.”
Cevon’s Waste Management and Puran Brothers Disposal Services would have met with Bulkan and officials of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), where it was guaranteed that payment would be made.
Morris indicated that during that engagement, the collectors had offered to resume operations, but no confirmation was given by City Hall. To date, they continue to remain on strike.
“We’re currently on strike. We had pledged to them that with the promise to pay from the Minister that we will start back working, but we haven’t heard from them since that meeting,” Archer told <<<Guyana Times>>>.
The previous arrangement stated that they would receive partial payment on the outstanding $160 million owed since the first quarter of 2018. Consequently, a notice was issued last week, informing that credible assurances are mandatory before operations can resume.
“Timely payment under the terms of our contract with the Georgetown City Council is a fundamental issue.  We cannot, we submit, be expected to provide services without reasonable assurances of timely payment. Where there is slippage, we are prepared as we have, over time, to exercise some measure of understanding to an extent that is reasonable,” the contractors said in the statement.
This has left many with concerns as to whether effective garbage collection will be carried out throughout the city. The garbage collectors had specified that this issue was also one of their concerns.
“Our concern at this time is with ensuring that the citizenry not have to endure garbage-related inconveniences, and worse, at this time of year. It is against this backdrop that we repeat our earlier undertaking that we stand prepared to resume work immediately upon receiving City Hall’s clearance. In our opinion, the sooner that assurance comes, the better.”
Presently, garbage collection is being carried out in Georgetown and its environs with five smaller contractors, appointed by the Council to alternate work over five days every week.
Attempts to make contact with acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe for a comment proved futile.