Faced with apparently insurmountable challenges in managing local garbage collection, the Chapala government has opted to contract a private company to operate the service.
On Thursday, January 4, the municipality’s Acquisitions Committee selected Grupo Integral de Recolección y Reciclados de Occidente (GIRRSA) to hold a 25-year contract to collect and transport solid waste for disposal at the PASA landfill in Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos. The decision was ratified by the city council the following day.
By majority vote, the committee determined that GIRRSA presented the most favorable proposal among three outfits that participated in a bidding process initiated last month.
While the deal will purportedly reduce government spending substantially, it also implies a personnel shakeup in Chapala’s Dirección de Aseo Público (Public Sanitation) which employs 62 garbage men and truck drivers. These individuals will be offered the choice of voluntary resignation with severance pay, plus retirement packages for long-time employees or reassignment to other government jobs. GIRRSA is expected to accept applications for new jobs with better worker benefits.
The company has already played a back-up role in Chapala’s trash collection system through a pilot project launched in Nov
ember utilizing five new model compactor trucks, each with a capacity of 12 tons. Under terms of the contract it will continue operating with those vehicles, plus at least two more new trucks and probable acquisition of the two small trucks purchased by the city in 2014. Potential modifications of pick-up route schedules and handling of green waste and recyclable materials have not yet been worked out.
Aseo Público retrieves about 60 tons of waste on an average each day and up to 90 tons on dates related to holidays and mass events. Annual expenses run at about 5.4 million pesos for the garbage collectors’ payroll, 1.8 million for vehicle maintenance and repairs, 3.6 million for fuel and 183,000 for worker tools. That does not count the 4.6 million pesos the the municipality will continue paying PASA for waste disposal under a 15-year contract set to expire in June 2024.
The bids were rated on a point system evaluation of each company´s submission of legal documentation, a technical proposal and an economic proposal.
GIRRSA reportedly scored 97 out a possible 100 points, including a 487.20 peso per ton charge for services rendered. Competitor Pico del Sur Comercializadora obtained 57 points with an offer of 638 pesos per ton, while Comercializadora Jarretaderillas accrued 55 points for a 724-peso tonnage cost.