Exec clarifies P101-M garbage collection deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Parañaque City government clarified yesterday that three contractors bought bidding documents for a three-month garbage hauling contract for the last quarter of 2013, but only one qualified.

Engineer Jonjie Cortez, who heads the bids and awards committee’s technical working group, said out of three firms that submitted letters of intent and bought bid documents, only Leonel Waste Management Corp. was found to have complied with all the eligibility requirements before the Sept. 4 deadline and was qualified to bid for the contract on Sept. 24.

Cortez said another prospective bidder, S. M. Coronado Eco-Waste Management Corp., failed to meet the terms of reference and was not qualified to bid while the third, IPM Construction and Development Corp., did not submit eligibility requirements but only sent a letter requesting for an extension of the deadline for submission of requirements.

Mayor Edwin Olivarez took office on June 30 and found out that the city government had no existing garbage hauling contract and the previous contractor had reportedly stopped collecting garbage two weeks before the expiration of its contract on the day he assumed office, the city official said.

The city council authorized Olivarez to enter into an emergency two-month negotiated contract with Leonel to eliminate the garbage pileup in the city.

Cortez said the contract being bid out has a budget ceiling of P101 million. He said that compared to the garbage hauling expense by the previous administration in 2012 and the first half of this year, Olivarez’ administration is expected to save P21 million in garbage hauling expense from July to December this year.