Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
$200M released to alleviate city stink
Garbage crisis…
Georgetown, under siege by garbage pile-ups since August 1, may have some respite after government yesterday announced that it is releasing $200M to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
The announcement came out of a meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and several council members, including Deputy Mayor Robert Williams.
Georgetown has been under siege by garbage pile-ups since August 1
There were huge piles of unsightly garbage since last week after two of the city’s largest contractors, Cevon’s Waste Management Inc. and Puran Bros Disposal Service, decided to once again withdraw their services, citing months of unpaid monies by the council.
It is a situation that city residents and visitors would not be unaccustomed to, and has become the norm for what was once described as the Garden City.
Of the $200M, $81M would represent taxes from government for the second and third quarters of 2011. The remaining $119M will be utilized to pay off critical expenses, including the garbage contractors.
The contractors are said to be owed more than $60M for work done between March and July.
Government will also be releasing another $16M to help clean up Le Repentir Cemetery.
M&CC has been blaming the delay in payment on its narrow revenue base.
Last week, Public Relations Officer Royston King blamed “the attitude of some property-owners,” who he said “fail to honour their civic-responsibility.”
King noted that “the narrow revenue base, in particular, continues to affects the council’s general and specific operations, in the City of Georgetown, including the collection of garbage, drainage, health services and other essential municipal services to citizens. The collection of garbage is an expensive undertaking. Add to that the long list of services and facilities council is expected to provide to communities. The municipality spends about one million dollars per day, to collect the city’s waste.”
Representing the M&CC yesterday at the meeting with President Jagdeo, in addition to Williams, were Town Clerk Yonette Pluck; Treasurer Andrew Meredith and Acting Engineer Lloyd Alleyne, among others.
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