Garbage piles up in city as M&CC disposal trucks out of operation

The garbage continues to pile up in the city as all four of the disposal trucks under the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are not in operation due to mechanical problems.

Director of the Solid Waste Department, Walter Narine told News Room Thursday they were unable to collect garbage from Campbelville, Queenstown and Alberttown. He said the trucks which usually service those areas are suffering from various mechanical issues from being overworked for 11 weeks without proper maintenance.

“We’ve had some mechanical problems since last week Thursday and it’s unfortunate that all went down one time … the reason those trucks are down is because Solid Waste Department has been running them from since 4 o’ clock in to morning to about 11 o’ clock in the nights continuously and like anything else they need to have maintenance,” he explained.

Residents of Kitty/Campbelville had their refuse piled up since Friday last, Alberttown since Monday and Queenstown since Tuesday.

Narine explained that the work has become burdensome since the withdrawal of the services from the two major garbage disposal companies: Cevons Waste Management and Puran Brothers. The services were withdrawn owing to the failure of the M&CC to pay off debts which have accumulated to approximately $400M.

Narine noted that his department divided Georgetown into ten zones and only four of them are being serviced by the smaller contractors which were hired to replace the two previous garbage collectors.

When News Room visited Narine at his Princes Street Office today, he was busy guiding the workmen as they tried to fix the mechanical issue on one of the trucks. Narine said he hopes to have at least two trucks fixed and dispatched to Campbelville and Queenstown to commence the collection of the garbage.

Overflowing barrels of refuse can be seen outside of houses for several days and some residents are growing frustrated with the situation.  However, Narine assured that a shift system will be established so that the trucks are properly maintained to avoid a major garbage situation.