Residents of Corriverton want the Town Council to desist from incinerating garbage close to their homes at Princetown and from burning dead animals on the roadways instead of burying them.
These and other issues were raised at an inquiry held at the Corriverton Town Council on Thursday. Residents complained that the smoke is affecting them and they are uncomfortable in their own homes.
The residents also pointed out that garbage is being burnt opposite the village at Scottsburg and said that there is no proper landfill site in the area.
One woman said too that the council was placing old tyres on dead animals after they had been left on the road for a few days and burning them on the spot. And instead of burying the remains of some animals, she said, the council takes them from another area to the Scottsburg beach to dump.
Mention was also made of garbage “overflowing in the drains close to the Corriverton Primary School.”
Another resident, Sachie Ramnauth, secretary of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that some persons dump their garbage indiscriminately on the seawall in the vicinity of the backtrack crossing, causing the area to look unsightly. She also felt that there should be more interaction between the council and residents.
The council responded that it is the duty of workers to remove the animals from the road provided that they are informed about it early. Mayor Roy Baijnauth said residents should feel free to call him or the council at anytime.
He recalled that last Sunday he received a call about a dead animal and he sent someone to remove it. The mayor mentioned too that the remains of big animals like cows and horses are not being burned but are buried.
Pooran Persaud of the Ministry of Local Government who headed the inquiry asked the council to visit the seawall but councillors responded that they are currently “addressing the issue” and have “served notices.”
They said too that notices against dumping have been placed on the seawall but that persons ignore them and dump right under the signs.
The councillors also said that businesses are responsible for most of the indiscriminate dumping and that their excuse was that the council’s once-per- week collection was inadequate.
According to them, a meeting was held with the businesspersons and a proposal made for an extra day for collection with additional charges. However the businesspersons did not take up the offer and the situation remained the same.
The councillors said too that they had held lectures at schools and have also moved around in the villages to advise persons on proper garbage disposal. Residents were supplied with barrels worth $4,000 at a cost of $1,500 and while “the council made good strides” with that method there was only 60% co-operation.
While garbage seemed to be the most troubling issue in the town, residents also raised other complaints. Among them was the issue of Carla Hooper who after 17 years of unblemished service with the council was dismissed on November 8, 2007 because of a land issue between her mother and the council.
She related that the council gave her a dismissal letter “without any pay” after an official told her co-workers that her “family was giving him a hard time”.
She told this newspaper that it was finally agreed by the Guyana Labour Union and the council that she would be paid 45% of what was owed to her and was also told on Thursday to uplift her money from the council.
Another resident also raised the issue of the council destroying his fence on his transported property in 2007 but Persaud responded that he could not deal with the issue after learning that it was currently before the court.
Rates
Acting town clerk/treasurer, Narendra Sukhram told Persaud, when asked, that the estimated rates and taxes for 2008 was $16M but only $11.5M had been collected.
He said they had budgeted projects for $16M and some of the projects had to be curtailed. He urged persons to honour their obligations.
Sukhram said too that the total budget for 2008 was $78M and that $2M out of a total of $28M in arrears collected from the previous year also helped the council to carry out 80% of its works.
He pointed out that financial statements have been submitted to the Auditor General’s office, noting that the last audit for the council was in 2001. The council is also awaiting reports from the audits done in 2002 and 2003.
Further, he said a rice company owes the council $18M and that the matter has been engaging the court for the past two years.
He said notices are being sent to residents to pay their rates and if there is no response, they are issued with reminders then subsequently with a payment plan. The council then follows this up by placing the names of persons and amounts owed on television.
The next step, Sukhram said is a house-to-house collection before the defaulters are finally issued with a lawyer’s letter.
Limited resources
Not all of the residents who turned up at the inquiry had complaints against the council. Two residents mentioned that given the limited resources they were satisfied with the council’s performance.
One man said that while he is “no friend of the mayor” he knows that the mayor puts aside Saturdays to listen to the concerns of the residents.
He reiterated that some persons have refused the bins offered by the council and continue littering. He also said that “the authorities are at the seawall and are not stopping them from littering.”
Another resident said that he did not see the need for an inquiry into the council and that while “garbage collection was an issue there has been some improvements.”
The councillors said that residents should not wait on a forum to raise concerns but they should “come in to the council.” They said too that they “cannot function without cooperation” and urged residents to “clean and maintain in front of their homes.”
The councillors said too that there is a lack of cooperation from the police as well as the regional administration but said that the council “has been above them [region] with our performance.”
Meanwhile, when this newspaper approached Persaud to find out about the reason for the inquiry, he responded that he did not wish to say anything.
He also said that he was sure that Stabroek News was there and heard what the inquiry was about.
The mayor and councillors told this newspaper that they learnt about the inquiry through a Local Government Ministry notice in the newspaper and that it had caught them by surprise.
They were subsequently told about it by the ministry via telephone and were asked to inform residents which they did through a television station in Berbice.
