Acapulco Halfway Cleans Slate on Garbage
(Acapulco, NA/ElSur 29 April) Much of Acapulco’s garbage collection is handled by private contracts because the Sanitation Department is not equipped and staffed to handle all requirements. Every year or so the city lets contracts to different companies, and every year there is controversy about renewing the contracts because the companies fail to hold up their end of the bargain. This year is no exception. Sunday is the beginning of a new contract period. One of the contractors will continue, and, according to Sanitation Department director Alfonso Calderón Velásquez, the other will be replaced by a different company, which has not yet been made public.
One of last year’s contract winners, Promotora Ambiental SA de CV (PASA), was assigned routes in the city’s downtown area. In March the company abandoned its obligations, so the city had to hire another company for two months until the contract ended. Meanwhile, Servitran (Servicios de Transporte SA de CV), the other private company contracted last year, continues to work with the Sanitation Department to collect garbage in several other parts of town. Both private contracts expire tomorrow at midnight.
The six companies that came forward to bid on the contract that starts on Sunday morning are: Caabsa Eagle S.A. de C.V. and Eco 5 Recolección SPRRL, both from Jalisco; Gestión y Manejo Ambiental S.A de C.V., from Morelos; Proactiva de México, from the State of Mexico, and the current contractors, Servitran and PASA (now called “GEN”). It has been announced that Servitran’s contract will be renewed, but that PASA will not continue. The replacement company has not been identified. The sanitation director also did not say for how long the new company would have a contract, but he mentioned that the routes and areas may be adjusted so as to equalize the burdens among the public and private garbage collectors. He added that Servitran’s contract will be extended rather than renewed, but he did not say for how many months.
The city is divided into four regions for assigning collection duties. PASA handled one area (the central area) with 15 trucks. Servitran also handles a somewhat larger region with 18 vehicles, and the Sanitation Department handles the rest with its 40 crusher trucks and pickups. The combined fleet collects 800 tons on weekdays and as much as 1,200 tons on weekends and holidays.
The Servitran and PASA combination have been under contracts for two years now. According to press surveys, neither one has complied with its commitments. One local newspaper (Novedades Acapulco) has published photos of large accumulations of garbage at certain “black points” in the city, where it is obvious that the trucks had not been by for days and days. Several such locations are along the Costera Alemán, in the historic section and in the Progreso neighborhood. Citizens all over the city frequently protest that the trucks do not come by on the days established for their routes, that they do not always empty the containers when they come by, and that they refuse to collect anything considered “excessive” unless extra money is given them.
