GT residents being consulted on garbage collection fee – City Hall

With just a few weeks until budget 2019, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is currently consulting residents of Georgetown on the introduction of a garbage collection fee. Speaking with Guyana Times, City Hall’s Public Relations Officer, (PRO) Debra Lewis noted that citizens are being briefed on the initiative and recommendations are being gathered as to how much they should pay.
“We’re preparing right now for budget 2019, so we’re doing the consultation and looking right now at examining the comment of citizens in regards to how much they should pay,” she said.
It was related that the decision was still under consideration but the initial plan was to impose a $100 fee for each barrel of garbage that is being collected by the Council.
Earlier this year, Town Clerk Royston King had also posited that consultations were necessary so that the Council could be aware on the thinking of the people.
So far, the discussions were done by the Public Relations unit in collaboration with the Solid Waste Management Department via phone and interpersonal communication. Residents of South Georgetown and the La Penitence areas were involved in the talks.
In January, King had announced that the Council was contemplating whether or not to attach a fee to the free garbage collection that is being done presently. The Town Clerk had stated that garbage collection required a hefty sum of money to carry out operations and in some cases; the Council is unequipped with some of the other resources. This revelation came at the peak of negotiations between solid waste contractors – Cevons Waste Management and Puran Brothers – who had once again pulled their services, even though Central Government had cleared the over $300 million debt owed by the City Council.
At this point, $75 million worth in equipment for the Solid Waste Management Department is expected to arrive soon which was primarily procured to boost operations. Solid Waste Director, Walter Narine had 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).
The bid was awarded to Industrial Supplies of Guyana (ISG) which won the bid for the supply of the garbage truck and should be in a position to deliver same in October. 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.
October is supposed to be the month where a citywide consultation in Georgetown was scheduled to commence. This was initially in the planning stage.