Chamber of Commerce and PPP want City Hall to engage private garbage collection companies

In an invited Comment, Rohee said “City Council needs to engage Puran Brothers and Cevon’s Waste Management and find a solution. It seems as though they are trying to get out of a debt but it’s the citizens that will eventually suffer.”

Chamber of Commerce and PPP want City Hall to engage private garbage collection companies

The Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the opposition People’s Progressive Party are both calling on the Georgetown City Council to meet with waste disposal companies – Puran Bros. and Cevons – to find a solution to the current situation.

The two major waste management companies that were contracted by the City Council, threatened to withdraw their services with effect from last Sunday, over non-payment of monies owed.

In response to that threat, City Hall ended its contract with the two companies, pointing out that although money may be owed, the contract does not allow for a suspension of services.

PPP Executives Clement Rohee and Anil Nandlall weighed in on the issued during a press conference on Wednesday and urged City Hall to not to take any unilateral decisions without consultations.

In an invited Comment, Rohee said “City Council needs to engage Puran Brothers and Cevon’s Waste Management and find a solution. It seems as though they are trying to get out of a debt but it’s the citizens that will eventually suffer.”

In a statement earlier in the day, the GCCI also encouraged the M&CC to meet with the aggrieved companies to establish a verifiable and mutually solution to the problem.

The Chamber went one step further to ask for government intervention, although State Minister Joseph Harmon has already said that the government will not intervene.

“In the spirit of enterprise and environmental preservation we are also calling on the Government of Guyana to intervene in this matter so as to ensure that waste collection services in the city return to normality and good faith prevail among M&CC and contractors in this matter,” the statement added.

The move to withdraw services stemmed from a delay in the issuance of payments for services rendered to the M&CC by the contractors. The monies owed amounts to some $300 million which were accumulated over the years 2015 and 2016.

“While the Chamber is cognizant of the deleterious effects created by the inevitable build-up of wastes in the capital city and its environs from by the suspension of this key service we recognize that enterprises, such as these, have substantial operating expenses and depend on a steady stream of income to survive. It is clear from the press releases, articles in the daily newspapers and news broadcasts that these companies have been subjected to this problem for some time now,” the statement added.

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