The Georgetown City Council will be seeking the Court’s intervention to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the Council by Government agencies and businesses, Georgetown Mayor, Alfred Mentore announced today.

At a press conference, Mr. Mentore said the Council has already issued notices to entities that owes the Council and the next step will be to move to Court.

He said the council will also have to review a number of arrangements it has with Government agencies in light of the Government’s move to take over a number of city streets.

The Mayor said the Council currently has an agreement with the Guyana Power and Light company that could be reviewed.

“If the government end up being successful in the issue of taking over our streets it will affect our financial and portfolio and it will further affect our economic situation at the council because then we will have a situation where GPL would have to be paying us their rates and taxes and we would have to treat with the issue concerning the poles on the parapets,” the Mayor noted.

The Mayor said the economic situation of the City is bound to be hit by the government’s latest move, which in turn means that the City must get aggressive in its tax collection, especially against Government entities and large businesses.

“Outside of the notices, we will also public those names of government entities that owe us significant taxes and we will also public those names of businesses and residents who also have significant outstanding taxes to us so they are different methods and stages in which we deal with those issues,” the Mayor noted.

Meanwhile, the Mayor said the Council is also moving ahead with plans to challenge the Government’s takeover of the Council’s property.

He said Court action has already been filed over the take over the municipal building and that matter is currently awaiting a date for hearing.

‘This is a matter that is urgent, it is a trespass matter and a matter where the government is seeking the seize the assets of the Council and ideally such matters because we are seeking injunctive relief, we should have gotten a date already. So I have reached out to our attorney on this matter,” the Mayor noted.

As it relates to the matter involving the taking over of city streets the Mayor said Court papers are in the works to have that matter filed.

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