New Company Takes Over Garbage Collection

(Acapulco, NA 1 May) The municipality has awarded to Caabasa Eagle SA de CV, from Jalisco State, the contract formally held by PASA for collection of garbage in about 25% of the City of Acapulco. The area includes Mozimba in the northwest to Farrallón (Diana Statue) on the Costera in the southeast. Meanwhile Servitran, the other contractor, will continue at least until the end of May with its territory that covers La Condesa in the west as far as Colosio on the east side.

Oscar Hernández Salgado, the coordinator for Public Services, said that there will be continuity in the provision of sanitary services. When previous contractor PASA walked off the job in March, it left large piles of accumulated garbage along the central zones of the city. The new contractor, known as “Eagle,” has been operating in Guadalajara, its only other location, since 1994, and has a reputation for being reliable. They will begin on Sunday with 20 trucks, and will add 15 more within two months. The city official said that this company (unlike its predecessor) has committed to honor the routes and schedules determined by the city. The city pays $356.70 pesos per ton of garbage collected. Its performance in Guadalajara is an average of 2,233 tons per day with 100 employees and 210 trucks over 205 routes. A different part of Caabasa, the construction division, was contracted in 2010 for the remodeling of the International Convention Center of Acapulco.

No one knows whether Servitran will continue with its contract when the current extension comes to an end. It was contracted by the previous municipal administration, and even though that contract expired on December 31, 2008, it has continued under a system of short term extensions. Locals have had a mixed experience with Servitran. In some neighborhoods there have been few complaints, but in others, the public has raised objections to their willingness to empty all receptacles and to honor pre-established routes and schedules.