City Solid Waste Director feels targeted

GEORGETOWN Solid Waste Director, Walter Narine, is yet to repay the sum of over $900,000 ordered by the Local Government Commission, on the recommendation of City Hall for work done in the City without the Council’s permission.

The sum of over $900,000 was disclosed by Mayor Ubraj Narine at the Council’s statutory meeting on Monday.
The Solid Waste Director, subsequent to the meeting, told the Guyana Chronicle that he had casually said that he will repay the cost for work done that was not approved by the Council, but disagreed with the sum quoted by the Mayor.

He explained that the Council had encountered some issues with a truck, and, as protocol, the fittest person to continue the job was a contractor.
He related that based on discussions with the then acting Town Clerk, Sharon Harry-Munroe, it was decided that Puran Bros will be engaged to execute the job, which it did.
A contention arose when Puran Bros sought payment for the job done and the Mayor and City Council, upon checking their records, found that permission was not granted for such work to be executed.

According to the Solid Water Director, he does not need to repay any money as he did not benefit from the work done by the contractor. He further pointed out that City Hall stopped the work that was being done by Puran Bros but later continued it. He also claimed that the work is ongoing but the Mayor said he was unaware of such.
Mayor Narine told the Guyana Chronicle that the Solid Water Director, and the then acting Town Clerk, were summoned to a meeting, and it was discovered that permission was not granted for the execution of work done by Puran Bros.

He noted that the Town Clerk cannot act without consulting the Council and further pointed out that the Solid Waste Director had agreed to repay the cost for the work done by Puran Bros.
The Mayor also informed that a committee investigated the matter and recommended that the Solid Waste Director make a one off payment of the monies and that recommendation was sent to the Local Government Commission which granted approval for Walter Narine to repay the sum.

At the statutory meeting on Monday, the Mayor and City Council decided to give the Solid Waste Director six months to repay the money. Some councillors objected to the Mayor’s proposed timeframe for repayment but the Mayor said that the timeframe was arrived at, on compassionate grounds, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.