Owed garbage collector to attend M&CC meeting today

…says he’s going with “high hopes”

Puran Brothers Disposal Services is owed more than $73 million by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), and senior officials of that solid waste company have “high hopes” that they would soon receive their monies. Speaking with Guyana Timeson Monday, General Manager of Puran Brothers Disposal Services, Khalesh Puran, disclosed that company officials are planning to attend today a meeting with the City Council which was announced in sections of the media.
“We will be getting an invitation to a meeting on Tuesday (today). I saw in the newspapers that we will be invited for a meeting tomorrow,” said Puran.
Ironically, with less than 24 hours before the meeting is called, Puran Brothers have not yet been formally invited. Nevertheless, company officials are optimistic

that the outstanding sum would be paid off.
“I’m hoping that we can meet with the relevant persons. We’re going in high spirits and see if we get paid. We’re going with high hopes,” Khalesh Puran has said.
Asked whether the company would withdraw its services if the outstanding payments are not made as was previously announced, the general manager posited that he is counting on the “high hopes” with which company officials would be attending the meeting.
Two weeks ago, both Puran Brothers and Cevon’s Waste Management had claimed to be owed some $150 million by City Hall. This debt was said to have been outstanding since the second quarter of 2018.
Puran Brothers Disposal Service is owed $73 million, as previously mentioned, while Cevon’s Waste Disposal is owed $75 million. At that time, two weeks ago, the two entities had been contemplating pulling their services, since there was “no positive outcome” to their meetings with City Hall.
It was also indicated that the two entities had been engaged by the Council on several occasions, but there weren’t any discussions on how their payments would be made. With the holiday season’s increased operational costs impending, there will be a steep escalation in the losses suffered by these entities as well. “We are contemplating a way forward together, because it’s affecting our working capital. To work for four months without receiving payment is kinda tough on us, because it’s a lot of costs behind these services that we provide,” Puran had stated.
For one of the collectors, the monthly operational expenditure is somewhere in the vicinity of $15 million.
City Hall’s financial crisis dates back to times when, with no other option, both solid waste collectors had been forced to withdraw their services until pending payments had been made. Staffers were also dismissed and later rehired in light of this process.