Local Government Ministry halts Linden toll collection

A showdown may be looming between the Linden Municipality and the Ministry of Local Government after the Ministry issued a directive to the Linden Council to cease the collection of tolls from heavy-duty trucks and out-of-town vendors, a system that has been in place for the past 16 years.

According to the Chairman of the Linden Town Council Interim Management Committee, Orin Gordon, the move could wipe out 30% of the Linden municipality’s income. The collection system has been in place since 1997 and it was only recently that the bauxite mining town decided to step up its collection.

According to Gordon, “the road toll, levied on heavy-duty trucks and out-of-town vendors at a toll station established at Kara Kara, was supported and signed into existence by an order from former Minister of Local Government Clinton Collymore in 1997, before being approved as a municipal by-law in 2011 by then Minister of Local Government Norman Whittaker. However, by way of an order dated July 29th, 2013, the Town Council was instructed by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Whittaker to cease collecting this toll, citing complaints by commuters”.

He further stated that the order “will severely threaten the ability of the Council to carry out its statutory duties”, adding that most of the people who have been paying the toll for years have not been complaining. Gordon said “this upsurge in complaints is coming from a specific set of people with friends in high places and they have been very boisterous.”

Citing the precedent of a large private company being allowed to collect road tolls at Itaballi, and tolls/crossing charges at Kurupukari, Sherima, Mango Landing etc., Mr. Gordon also questioned the wisdom of allowing a company to conduct a similar exercise in the name of private enterprise and not allowing the Town Council as a statutory body, covered by law to operate in like manner.

Pointing to the fact that Minister Whittaker had also approved the municipality’s 2013 budget, which included the projections for the collection of this toll by the Council enabling a raise of pay for the municipality’s employees, Mr. Gordon stated that this order has the effect of creating a $15 million shortfall in the Town Council’s income, jeopardizing programmes and jobs at this institution. It is projected by the municipality that at least 40 persons will lose their jobs.

The tolls include a $2000 charge for trucks transporting sawn lumber and $3000 for transporting logs, while 40-foot container trucks and trucks transporting laterite and sand were charged $5000. Vending charges included $2800 for buses and $4000 for canter trucks.

According to the Chairman of the Management Committee, “the implementation of the new minimum wage law, which places increased financial responsibility on the municipality in the face of the removal of this income by the Minister’s order. The fact that the Town Council would not be financially capable to execute its statutory responsibilities was also seen as a potential source for discord among residents by the Town’s chief citizen.”

The Mayor and Town Council is urging the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Ganga Persaud to reconsider and withdraw the order for the cessation of the collection of this road toll in keeping with the measures approved in the Council’s 2013 budget.