THE next garbage hauler to be contracted by Cagayan de Oro City Hall should be monitored and held accountable for their compliance with the city’s requirements for their operation, an administration official said today.
“The Clenro (City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office) should conduct weekly monitoring of their garbage collection (to make sure that they meet their requirements)….not just to meet their quota for compliance (but to ensure that they collect every piece of garbage in the city’s streets),” said Clenro overseer Eric Salcedo during a radio interview.
Salcedo said this amid reports that a post-assessment conference will be held this afternoon with two bidders for the city’s garbage collection services.
Details on the bidding are withheld in accordance with Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, specifically on the ‘no contact rule’ between the bids and awards committee (BAC) and the participating bidders.
The ‘no contact rule’ as elaborated by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on its website stated that the prohibition of information involving the bidders and the BAC is ‘absolute’ and covers all kinds of information.
“The rationale (being that) it would erase any (chance) for bidders (to influence or conspire) with employees of the procuring entity,” it said.
Salcedo, a former councilor who chaired the 19th City Council’s environment committee, previously called for an investigation into the labor issues involving IPM-Waste CDO after some of its workers barricaded the entrance of the city’s old landfill site back in March 2021.
IPM-Waste CDO’s contract with City Hall ended on Jan. 31 and City Hall opened bidding for garbage hauling services.
During the radio interview, Salcedo said a separate bidding for the waste segregation program to be conducted on-site at the Pagalungan landfill will be held next month. He said under the previous contract with City Hall, IPM-Waste CDO is paid P15 million a month to collect the city’s garbage and P100 million annually to segregate the city’s garbage at the landfill site.
Clenro chief Engr. Armen Cuenca said among the requirements set for the next garbage hauler is that they should collect 33,000 cubic meters of garbage a month.
“Before it was 30,000 cubic meters a month but now it’s 33,000…the cost (of keeping our city clean in compliance to Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000) doesn’t come cheap,” Salcedo said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
