The cash-strapped City Hall is currently seeking to source finances to pay staff for December as well as outstanding balances to contractors.
Mayor and City Council (M&CC) sources confirmed to Stabroek News that the administration was only able to complete payments to staff for November yesterday, a day before the December payment date.
For the past several months, the city administration has been finding it difficult to source the much needed revenue to pay staff and cover other overhead expenses.
Acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe yesterday told Stabroek News that the administration is currently in discussions with several delinquent ratepayers and organisations to have them settle their outstanding balances.
If that is done, she said, staff will be paid in the new week and the M&CC will then look at paying contractors.
At Monday’s statutory meeting, councillors were informed of the shortage of finances and the difficulty the administration has had in paying staff.
Despite being aware of the council’s precarious finances, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green registered her disappointment at the contracted drainage and irrigation workers not being paid.
She noted that workers have contacted her office and informed her of not being paid for works done for close to a month.
“Miss Harry, I have to express my disappointment at the way contractors are being paid for works that are being done in the canals. Again, I am saying these people go into the trenches… it has been nearly one month [since] the workers would have completed their job. It is unfair,” she said.
Meanwhile, after Harry-Munroe reminded the council of its obligation to pay city constabulary officers retroactive salary increases, Chase- Green advised that salary increases for 2018 will be deferred until council is in a better financial position.
Following this announcement, the Mayor recommended that the constabulary officers be told in advance that they will not be receiving their retroactive increases.
“Don’t let us give these officers any false hope that they’re going to get this money before Christmas, unless the government is willing to pay that money to us now. Only then they can get it before Christmas,” Chase-Green said.
She noted that the administration should focus on paying all staff rather than focusing on a particular group.
“I would not put the entire staff on hold to pay a few who, like grasshoppers, sometimes hopping all around the place not doing anything and that’s how I see it,” she stressed.
The Mayor also used the opportunity to remind the council of revenue earning ventures they had proposed during her leadership but which never bore fruit.
She stated that if the metered parking project were in operation and the container fees were implemented, the council would have been in a better financial position and capable of meeting its expenses.
