City garbage collection contractor, Guyana Waste Solutions (GWS) is at risk of having at least one of its five waste disposal contracts with the Georgetown City Council terminated, as piles of garbage continue to buildup in the commercial zone, and other areas of the city due to the company’s repeated failure to meet its contractual obligation.

GWS, which is under contract to uplift garbage in five of the 15 constituencies within the city including the commercial zone, has been facing a number of challenges from technical problems with its fleet of trucks to shortage of workers.

City Mayor Alfred Mentore told the 30-member Council that as the Mayor and a citizen of Georgetown he is embarrassed with the current garbage situation. He said the contractor has been given enough time to get its act together.

“As I drive and I see what’s going on, I am embarrassed…because there is garbage, garbage all over the place, and we are paying for this service to ensure that the garbage is not there, but the garbage is there,” the City Mayor said as he summoned the City’s Solid Waste Management Director, Walter Narine to brief the Council on the situation.

The City Council says among four contractors, it pays a total of $23 Million every month for garbage collection services.

Mayor Mentore said the Municipality must get value for its money.

“I strongly believe that where we are at on this matter, is that we have been giving significant chances, we have been giving significant opportunity, we have been giving significant leverage and latitude to this matter and now, we have to be able to take a firm stance, on one constituency at a time. The company is having challenges, and it is not challenges with one constituency, you have five jobs to do. So, what we will have to do in this particular instance is allow for the suspension of at least one of the job to allow for somebody to get involved and fill the void until we can get to a situation where he can remedy himself with the other four,” the Mayor told the Council. 

The Mayor said he has been advised by the Town Clerk that the contract does not allow for suspension, but rather termination. 

As a result, the Council has agreed to have an emergency meeting with the contractor on the issue.

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