The Chapala government has worked out a property trade-off deal to settle its mounting debt to Grupo Integral de Recolección y Reciclados de Occidente, S.A. de C.V. (GIRRSA), the private company that holds a 25-year contract to collect the municipality’s solid wastes.
According to terms approved by the City Council on January 28, the government will pay off a bill of around five million pesos left by the previous administration, plus additional service fees accrued since October 1, by turning over title to a 14,392 square meter plot of undeveloped land located on the northern outskirts of the municipal seat and three heavily used garbage trucks.
In addition to immediately getting out of the red, the arrangement puts the government in a position to demand that the company comply with its contractual obligations to provide efficient trash pickup services, following a fixed schedule for established routes.