Adolfo Moreta Feliz writes in Hoy newspaper about the high cost of garbage collection in the Dominican Republic. To make his point, the author comments on councilman Domingo Jimenez, who indicated that the city governments pay US$23 to US$25 to dump the garbage in Duquesa, as reported in Hoy newspaper on 2 October. “The average price the Dominican Republic is paying is equal to a barrel of petroleum,” he points out, observing also that while a ship must travel to the DR to deliver the oil, a truck has only to travel to Duquesa, just north of Santo Domingo, to dump the garbage. Moreta points out that Santo Domingo Mayor Roberto Salcedo has said that the domestic waste of the DR is “the most expensive garbage in the world.” Moreta writes that others have established similarities of the garbage collection cases with Hydro-Quebec and Cogentrix, but the contract details, causes and reasons have not been disclosed.
Moreta mentions that the collection of a truckload of garbage is more expensive than transporting a freight container loaded with new television sets from the Port of Haina to Santiago. Meanwhile, the Dominican government may find itself in court for the debt it contracted with foreign companies to provide the collection service. The author writes that to avoid the present disproportionate prices that unbalance any city budget and result in greater debts for the future, municipal governments should conduct studies on the real cost of collecting a ton of refuse and indicate how it is paid. This would likely answer the question he asks in the article, “Can the cost that the companies and the city governments accept and pay as good and valid be real?” Or the more important question: “Is there any real interest in efficiently solving the garbage collection issue?”