A garbage collection strike looms because of City Hall’s failure to pay its service providers over $250 million in debt to date.
“We were owed $97 million and were paid $1.2 million. We keep asking the bank to bear with us as we have our own debts but there is only so much they can bear,” General Manager of Puran’s Waste Disposal Inc Kaleshwar Puran told Stabroek News yesterday.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Chief Executive Officer of Cevons Waste Management, Morse Archer. “We are owed $168 million. We can’t go on. We have exhausted our monies and are existing at the mercy of people crediting us. If we don’t get substantial payment we will be forced to strike,” he said.
When contacted, Town Clerk Royston King, referring to the $1.2 million said, “Puran’s get paid last week but he ain’t get no big set of money. Cevons get the week before but he ain’t get no big set a money either. We are not paying them how they want to be paid.”