Following the intervention of the Public Utilities Com-mission (PUC), talks between the Georgetown Municipality and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) over the former’s debt to the power company have borne fruit with both agreeing to waive the interest on sums owed to each other.

The two entities exchanged cheques yesterday and according to Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green, consultations between City Hall officials and personnel from the power company have been fruitful. He said that he was not in a position to give the full details of the agreement between the two entities.

However, Stabroek News understands that the two bodies agreed to strike out the interest on outstanding balances owed during the exchange of cheques process.

During a meeting between the two entities last month, GPL’s Chairman, Winston Brassington stated that the power company was willing to exchange cheques for its balance owed to City Hall but on the condition that the power company be exempted from paying its outstanding balance with interest. Mayor Green had objected to Brassington’s proposal stating that collection of interest by City Hall was a statutory obligation.

Meanwhile, at a press conference hosted at Town Hall yesterday, Green restated that the municipality has not been allowed to function as it would like, adding that City Hall recognizes that it has not been providing a satisfactory level of service to the public because of the lack of funds. He said that the council had made proposals to the authorities on several projects which would have made the council more financially stable.

According to the Mayor, officials from the municipality met with a team of experts who were giving advice to the council on converting waste material from  Le Repentir Cemetery to electricity. He said that that the proposal was forwarded to the authorities but was met with opposition, with the power company and the subject minister not showing much interest in the project.

He went on to state that the council was told that the project could not be assisted by the government since the administration is currently focusing on hydro-electricity.

City Hall and the power company have been at loggerheads over the past few weeks, the latter disconnecting power supplied to the Town Hall and the East La Penitence and Kitty markets recently. This newspaper understands that based on the agreement reached between the two entities this week, power to the affected facilities would be restored once the M&CC submits a payment proposal to the power company to honour its outstanding debts.

This last dispute between the two entities stemmed from what the power company termed  the M&CC’s failure to honour an agreement formed between the two in which the council would have commenced paying the net amount of $510M by December 10. The PUC subsequently intervened in the matter.