Santo Domingo Mayor Roberto Salcedo confirmed yesterday that the Spanish company Proaseo was out of the picture and that the municipality is taking over responsibility for refuse collection and disposal in the capital. The municipality has hired 300 refuse collection trucks for the task of clearing the backlog of domestic and commercial waste that has been accumulating in the streets of the city for nearly two weeks. Some estimates put the cost of this changeover at RD$300 million according to Diario Libre. Salcedo also announced extensive plans for the beautification of selected areas of the capital with a large-scale tree-planting program, and singled out Avenida Duarte and Parque Enriquillo as areas in urgent need of improvement.