S & S Services Corp. employees at the Bovoni landfill walked off the job at 6 p.m. Tuesday and did not return to work Wednesday morning — an action that has taken place before. By 11:30 a.m. Wednesday the S & S employees had been replaced by five workers from Alvin Williams Corp.
Public Works is setting up a 30-day professional services contract with the new company. At the end of the 30 days, a permanent award will go to one of the contractors that previously bid on the job during the last round of bidding, according to acting Public Works Commissioner Harold G. Thompson Jr.
Asked who would get paid first in light of the large sum of money owed to S & S, the former contractor, Thompson replied that it was a hard question.
"We will try to be fair and balanced and try to pay both of them," he said.
Siewdath Sookram, president of S & S Services Corp., claims he is owed $2 million by the V.I. government and has not received a payment since December.
Thompson said the Williams Corp. would be paid from the same source as Sookram — "solid waste money from the General Fund."