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City Hall indebted to contractors
…hopes situation remains amicable despite owing
$6M
City Hall could find itself with another garbage crisis if it does not comply with the constant urges of private contractors to pay up monies owed for the disposal of waste over the past few months.
Reports reaching this newspaper are that the
contractors have been frequently approaching the municipality with the expectation of having the outstanding debts settled, but so far, to no avail.
Deputy Mayor Robert Williams in an invited comment yesterday said that while the situation is in fact a serious one he does not anticipate that it would reach troubling proportions.
Currently, the contractors offering waste disposal services to the council include the Cevons Waste Management Service and Puran Brothers Incorporated.
According to Williams, who is the Chairman of the council’s Financial Committee, the amount owing to the contractors is somewhere in the vicinity of $6M.
He noted that while the sum is significant, it is far less than the council has ever owed the contractors.
In the meantime, he noted, the Council will be attempting to uncover outstanding rates in order to meet the demands.
But according to City Mayor Hamilton Green, it has become a reality that the Council will always have more expenses than collected monies.
At the moment, the council through its Finance Committee will be focusing mainly on delinquent persons even as a compromise is derived with the contractors.
The Mayor opined that the problems of the council are rooted in the fact that it has not been receiving the necessary cooperation from the government.
He expounded that it has been for far too long that the municipality has been seeking to broaden its revenue base, adding that the ruling administration continues to deny this imperative implementation.
Mayor Green pointed out that it was since 1994 that the Interim Management Committee had recommended that the council be given a broadened revenue base in order to carry out its mandate.
The Mayor pointed out that it was not until seven years later that the administration had allowed the introduction of a meagre fine system.
He emphasised that unless the municipality is allowed to have a legal revenue base system which can bring in substantial funding it will remain in a cash-strapped status.
Mayor Green has on numerous occasions alluded to the fact that even if the Council was able to collect all of its rates and taxes it still will not be in possession of the requisite finances to efficiently manage the city.
And while he harbours optimism that the administration will one day see the need for additional revenue bases, Green said that at the moment the Council will be doing everything possible to ensure that the city is kept at an acceptable standard.
Meanwhile, the Mayor said that he expects that he will be in receipt of a report from the Finance Committee shortly with regards to the situation with the contractors, whom he anticipates will continue to cooperate with the Council. Checks around the city yesterday revealed that the contractors are still rendering their services.
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