Port-of-Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne has warned that deep budget cuts could leave the capital facing a garbage crisis by February unless the Government revises its allocations.
Speaking after a finance committee meeting yesterday, Alleyne said the Port-of-Spain City Corporation’s allocation for “other contracted services”—the vote used to pay garbage contractors—has been reduced from $20.9 million last year to $13.2 million this year.
“We simply do not have enough allocation to fund our regular scavenging or garbage collection,” he said.
The mayor warned that if the $8.3 million shortfall is not addressed, the city could maintain operations only for a few months.
“We’ll probably see ourselves through to February at best, but beyond that we’re going to end up with some difficulties,” he said.
Half of the city’s garbage collection, mainly in East Port-of-Spain, is handled by private contractors, while the remainder is done internally.
Alleyne said additional cuts to overtime and short-term employment votes would also affect Carnival, religious and cultural events, and mosquito-control programmes.
“Reducing our ability to employ people on a short-term basis, whether it’s to do sanitation work or maintenance, really puts the city on a path towards not being able to be sustainable,” he said.
He added that a 25 per cent reduction in the Corporation’s goods and services allocation could further jeopardise essential operations such as road patching, cleaning, and waste management.
“There’s a certain level of expenditure that is required to keep the capital city moving,” Alleyne said. “Our plea is that a more appropriate allocation simply be made available so we can continue to grow and develop the city.”
His comments come amid mounting criticism over the 2026 local government allocations, which show that Opposition-controlled corporations—including Port-of-Spain—received less funding than those under the ruling United National Congress.
