PARAMARIBO – The nation’s garbage collectors on Monday ended their strike and went back to work but made it clear that they expect the government to pay them the rest of their money within a week. They explained that they only received payment for one month and that they still have to get paid for the work that they did during 4 months. “The money that we received is just enough to guarantee garbage collection for the next two weeks. If we do not get the rest of our money as soon as possible, we will be forced to hit the emergency brakes and to stop working. We can’t go on like this. The government must pay the bills,” said several garbage truck owners. The garbage collectors find it awful that the government does not put the public health first and explained that if the garbage is not collected on time, various diseases could pop up. The Public Works Ministry has made several promises regarding the payment but the garbage collectors do not know when they will actually get paid. The garbage collectors are puzzled by the fact that the government doesn’t pay all of the bills at once. “We have a pile of debts that we must pay. I have to pay the bank, my workers and I must also buy fuel so that the garbage trucks can be deployed. The money that I received is barely enough to pay some of my debts. It is just enough to remain operational for 2 days,” said one of the garbage collectors who added that the government gave incorrect information when it announced that everything was back to normal and that the garbage collectors had ended their strike. The garbage collectors hope that the Public Works Ministry will keep its promise and that they will receive the rest of their money by Friday…[+]