Cevons, Puran Brothers win private sector backing in pay dispute with City Hall
Cevons Waste Management and Puran Brothers, the two waste disposal companies locked in a protracted dispute with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) over the municipality’s continued failure to liquidate debts that have reportedly climbed to more than $300 million this week appeared to have won the full backing of much of the private sector following a meeting with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday, which was also attended by representatives of other urban pressure groups that have a civic interest in the impasse.
Just hours after the meeting, the Chamber issued a statement in which it described the protracted non-payment on the part of City Hall “for acceptable services” as “a fundamental breach of contract.” It noted that the debt notwithstanding the two contractors had “continued to work with the M&CC over the past few years in hope that the issue could have been resolved amicably.” The Chamber in its release also called on City Hall to meet with the two companies in order to arrive at a solution to the problem. Simultaneously, the release called on the Government of Guyana to intervene in the matter in order to ensure that the waste collection services in the capital are properly executed.
While Town Clerk Royston King has been seeking to offer assurances that having terminated the contracts with the two waste disposal entities the service will be sustained by contractors hastily hired in their place, owners of business places in downtown Georgetown with whom this newspaper spoke said that there was no reason to have confidence in the assurances emanating from City Hall. “Remember that this is not the first time that we have had this kind of situation. These kinds of promises have not been kept in the past and there is no reason to