Gov’t makes $40M tax payment for city garbage collection

The government yesterday released $40M to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to be used to pay the solid waste contractors.

The monies represent part payment of general rates by the government to the Georgetown municipality, in keeping with a recent proposal by Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall.

On August 10, Lall announced that government would pay outstanding rates and taxes owed to the municipality but that money must be used to pay the contracted collectors on a monthly basis, after a recent month and a half strike.

While Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green admitted that collectors needed to be paid he had said he will see to it that the council is prudent in disposing of funds as it sees fit and not as dictated.

Questions had arisen over whether government and municipality would honour the payment. In a statement issued yesterday, the M&CC said the money received will be used to pay the collectors but it did not state how much will be used to do so.

Meanwhile, the M&CC added that it has fallen short of about $400M in the collection of rates and taxes for this period. “If citizens do not pay then the municipality would be hard pressed to honour its financial obligations to its contractors and others who are assisting with the provision of services,” it noted. The M&CC says it is urging default tax payers to talk with the staff at the City Treasurer’s Department at City Hall. “The council needs every cent owed to it to fulfil its mandate to the citizens of Georgetown.”

The M&CC added that it continues to serve demand notices to property-owners, in all wards. Additionally, its legal section has been taking legal action against defaulters and in this regard it encouraged home-owners experiencing difficulties paying rates to take advantage of its payment plan.