Linden Mayor Dominique Blair says the loss of bridge toll revenue has left the municipality unable to meet its monthly staff obligations, with workers leaving and garbage collection at risk of disruption.
In a Facebook live broadcast, Blair said several municipal employees had approached him about their salaries and were being affected “tremendously” by the council’s financial difficulties.
He warned that delayed or reduced payments could create further hardship for employees with loan commitments.
“Some of the staff, they have loans. And if they are short on loans obviously interest would be accumulated over the period,” he said.
Blair attributed the crisis to the removal of revenue that had already been incorporated into the council’s budget.
“You cannot want to remove 52 to 60 percent of a company’s revenue and expect it to function properly. When the government did that this is what they did to us, this is money that we have already budgeted for,” he said.
The mayor said the council had lost workers over the past four months as financial pressures affected its operations. He warned that garbage collection could be disrupted, leaving waste to accumulate in communities.
He did not specify how many employees had left, the amount owed to staff or when collection services might be affected.
The Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge became toll-free on August 1, 2025. Kiskadee Watch previously reported that the toll had contributed approximately $6 million monthly to the municipality, which had sought a dedicated replacement source of financing to maintain services and meet its obligations.
The council’s finances were further drawn into dispute following the removal of its separate Kara Kara toll. Local Government Minister Priya Manickchand signed an order revoking the 2016 by-laws authorising that collection, published in an Extraordinary Official Gazette dated September 1, 2026.
The council has distinguished the two revenue streams, maintaining that the bridge toll is governed by the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge Act, while the Kara Kara charges operated under municipal by-laws.
Talks with central government last month produced a proposal from the council to reduce toll charges by 50 per cent. A joint statement said the government would review the proposal and work with the municipality to establish a full account of its revenue and expenditure.
The statement also disclosed that the council’s audited financial statements were significantly in arrears. It said the government had received representations from residents and private sector operators about the impact of toll charges on the cost of doing business in Linden.
In his latest remarks, Blair said the council had written to the government proposing ways to alleviate the financial crisis and was seeking intervention to address the matter.
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