City to reissue demand letters to debtors, take persons to court

Mayor of Georgetown, Alfred Mentore has said a list of the top 50 debtors will be revealed soon and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (GM&CC) is preparing to utilise the Courts to ensure persons pay what is owed. During an interview with the News Room on Thursday, Mentore said the outstanding monies owed by debtors are part of the reason that projects are not being done.

He said the Council, based on advice from its lawyers, has issued demands to debtors but it is prepared to pursue legal action through the courts. He noted that the amounts owed are from years of outstanding debt and from January 2025 to present, the demands were sent to persons.

“Even if they didn’t get it, what we will also do or address is ensure those that we will move against we will ensure that they get their demands.

“We will find ways, with our attorney to address those matters and as they address them, we will get our monies and be able to finance our operations,” Mentore said.

The Council believes this might be a deliberate act by persons to avoid paying their property taxes. They have reportedly exhausted measures to get the outstanding monies and this year, there was a decision to take a different approach.

Mentore said with few solutions available, the decision to identify a total of 50 of the highest debtors, then another set of the second highest and so on, was established and will soon pursue legal action through the courts utilising provisions for the collection of outstanding property tax and petty debt.

“We would be applying the measure of under 221 [of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01 of the Laws of Guyana] that speaks of restraint warrant and petty debt action, which we will take to the Magistrate Court to find ways [on] how you can bring closure to these issues, find ways to get those people to pay, find ways to find a solution, find ways of how we can have a payment plan,” he said.

Section 221 of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01 of the Laws of Guyana states the procedures for the recovery of unpaid property tax and allows for the Clerk of the Council to make application to the magisterial district for a warrant to be issued.