The Santo Domingo government of Mayor Robert Salcedo announced over the weekend that it has rescinded the garbage collection contract with Colimec. He also said that Proaseo, another garbage collection company inherited from the past administration, had violated their contract, as it was collecting only 700 to 800 tons of refuse daily of the 1,700 tons specified in the agreement. Salcedo notified President Hip?lito Mej?a of his decision, reporting that because this company had abandoned its duties, its services would no longer be retained.
El Caribe?s editorial says that one of the roots of the ongoing problems with the garbage collection companies has been that the terms of the contracts are established on the basis of the company?s capacity, rather than on the amounts collected. Likewise, the supervision of the fulfillment of these contracts is virtually non-existent. As a result, city residents are accustomed to the recurring conflicts, as the companies stop collecting garbage to pressure the government to pay up. Proaseo and Colimec say the National District and Province of Santo Domingo governments owe them RD$450 million.
Garbage is piling up in the city, despite Mayor Salcedo?s announcement that 6,000 tons were removed by an emergency fleet of 300 leased compactor trucks, including 20 new vehicles that arrived recently to the country.
Apparently, three new companies may get the garbage collection contract for Santo Domingo. The new names are Disposici?n Sanitaria Capital (DCS), ADN Servicios S.A. and Capital Clean Dominicana, S.A., whose trucks were circulating in Santo Domingo over the weekend.
Mayor Salcedo had promised in a press conference on Saturday that within 48 hours the city would be clean and that new companies would be hired within the next few days. He said he is taking his time with the contracts to get them right.