MP Lyndon Lewis questions VROMI’s handling of district cleaning contracts

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Lyndon Lewis has raised serious concerns about the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure’s handling of the District Cleaning 2022-2025 contracts, which are set to expire on March 31, 2026, with no new public tender yet announced.

According to recent documentation, contractors providing district cleaning services were formally informed in a February 24, 2026 letter from the ministry that their agreements will end on March 31 and will not be extended. The letter also stated that a new public tender would be issued in the near future. However, with no tender publicly issued to date, uncertainty is growing over how district cleaning services will continue after the end of the month.

Lewis said the ministry’s approach raises major concerns about planning and continuity.

“It is difficult to understand the reasoning behind notifying companies that their contracts will not be extended while there is no replacement contractor in place and no tender process completed to ensure continuity of service,” Lewis said. “District cleaning is not a luxury service, it is a fundamental public health and environmental necessity.”

He warned that the absence of a published tender or confirmed replacement contractor creates the risk of a service gap with immediate consequences for communities across the country.

“If district cleaning services stop even for a short period, the result will be immediate. Garbage will accumulate, illegal dumping will increase, and our districts could quickly face serious sanitation problems, including infestations of rodents and other pests. This is not a hypothetical scenario, it is the predictable outcome of poor planning,” Lewis said.

Lewis stressed that responsible governance requires proper foresight and transition planning, especially where essential public services are concerned. In his view, the more prudent course would have been to temporarily extend the current contracts until the tender process was completed and new contractors were selected and ready to take over.

“Ending contracts without a replacement ready demonstrates a troubling lack of vision and strategic planning. The Minister must understand that decisions like these affect the daily living conditions of residents in every district,” he added.

Lewis is now calling on Minister of VROMI Patrice Gumbs to urgently clarify how the ministry intends to ensure uninterrupted district cleaning services after March 31 and to explain why the tender process was not launched earlier to avoid the possibility of disruption.

“Our communities deserve clean, safe districts. The government must ensure that essential services such as district cleaning are managed responsibly and without disruption,” Lewis said.

‍