Five days after proposing a new schedule to their two major garbage collectors, Cevons Waste Management Inc and Puran Brothers Disposal Services, the companies are still awaiting written proposals from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Following a meeting last Monday, the garbage contractors agreed to accept the new proposals and began working from January 1. However, the companies said that up to yesterday afternoon, they were yet to receive the proposals in writing.
The M&CC had proposed that Puran Brothers will work in Constituencies 7 and 9 and will manage the static compactor at Albouystown market, while Cevons will operate in Constituencies 5 and 6 and manage the Bourda market compactor.
“We have agreed in good faith to return to work but we asked that the proposal be in writing. I just visited the (acting) Town Clerk office and they said it is not ready as yet,” Morse Archer, the CEO of Cevons told Stabroek News. He lamented City Hall’s laid back approach when it comes to dealing with pressing issues.
“They are taking a big risk with the cleanliness of the city. We have worked hard to get the city to the (level of cleanliness),” he stressed.
Both companies requested the written proposals at the meeting on Monday. The companies are deeply concerned about the contents since it is likely to affect the current contract they hold.
Debra Lewis, spokeswoman for the M&CC said that the proposal to the two companies is a temporary one as they still have contracts with the five small garbage collectors until the end of January.
“We cannot be ungrateful to the small contractors. They have willingly stepped in and agreed to work when these companies withdrew their services,” she said.
Kalesh Puran, Managing Director of Puran’s yesterday charged that the treatment by City Hall is unprofessional. “We have been waiting all week for the proposal to see what is in it but we returned to work. Today when we visited, they said it was not ready,” he lamented.
“It is not our fault we are in this situation, we couldn’t have continued to work and we suspended the service because we were not paid. Now we are paid and ready to return to work fully,” Puran explained.
He noted that his company and Cevons had written to the council in advance alerting them of the problem but never received a response. Puran also pointed out that apart from investment in equipment, his company has invested in other areas such as human resources, a mechanic shop, environmental passes and other areas. “These are areas we would have invested and expected a return in a few years but what they (City Hall) are doing is bad for business. No investor wants to invest and not have a return,” he lamented further.
Efforts made to contact the acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe on the delivery of the written proposal were futile.
City Hall and the contractors have a binding contract until October 2020. However, following their suspension of service in November last year, M&CC attorney Roger Yearwood informed the council that the companies were in breach of their agreement.
Lewis yesterday said the council is seeking a second legal opinion before debating the way forward at full council.
The two companies on November 26th, withdrew their services from the municipality after it failed to pay a total of $160 million for the work they have done since June. The two companies, not long after, issued a joint statement calling on Central Government to intervene in order for them to be paid.
Responding to their call, the Ministry of Communities intervened and agreed to pay off a substantial amount owed to the two companies, resulting in both companies signaling their readiness to return and provide their service to the city.
The Ministry of Communities agreed to pay the contractors the full sum of $160 million owed to them, Lewis told Stabroek News yesterday. Initially, the ministry had said that it would pay the contractors $130 million out of the $160 million owed while the M&CC would have to pay the two contractors the remaining $30 million.
