The bids for the two garbage trucks City Hall intends to purchase will be retendered since the bids received at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) during the last competitive bidding process were all above the estimated price.
Communities Ministry Public Relations Officer Danielle Campbell-Lowe told Guyana Times that the bids received earlier, in the month of March, for the supply of the two trucks were all above the estimated price and as such, the project has to be retendered.
In an advertisement placed in this newspaper on Wednesday, it was noted that bids were now being once again invited for the “supply and delivery of one new
Solid Waste Director Walter Narine
rear loader refuse trucks with 28yd3 body and bin lift”.
Companies wishing to submit bids for the project can drop off their sealed and labelled tenders at the Finance Ministry, Main and Urquhart Streets, Georgetown from Monday to Friday. The bids for the project will be read at NPTAB on June 19.
Just last month, this publication reported that the tenders were awaiting selection, as related by the Solid Waste Director, Walter Narine. He further said that in addition to the garbage trucks, City Hall also intended to purchase a tractor and two trailers to aid in the area of garbage collection.
“Ministry of Communities, of course, is doing all the tendering from Government and also on our behalf. Ministry of Communities would have advertised for tender in the newspapers and interested suppliers would have sent in their tender documents,” the Director explained.
He said that during a previous Statutory meeting, the Council decided that $75 million would be allocated to his department, to fund the vehicles.
The two trucks that the M&CC intends to purchase will be financed using the $200 million subvention from the Communities Ministry, which was granted in this year’s budget.
Currently, City Hall pays approximately $90 million per month in garbage collection fees to its two major contractors, Puran Bros Disposal Service and Cevons Waste Management Inc.
“In our 2018 budget, the $200 million that was given to us by the Government will be busted to purchase two new garbage trucks. Until those trucks are here, I don’t think we have the capacity to clear effectively the areas that the Council controls and we are still looking at that,” Mayor Patricia Chase Green noted.
The much-needed garbage trucks are being sourced by the M&CC with the intent of minimising its taxing expenditures and improving its efficiency in the area of garbage collection.
The Council made the announcement of its plans to purchase the trucks last year during a press conference.
The country’s two largest garbage collection companies Puran Brothers Disposal and Cevons Waste Management withdrew their services on July 30, 2017, as City Hall’s debts had risen to the multimillion-dollar range.
According to the companies, the issue of non-payment has been a long-standing one, with many debts going as far back as 2015.
However, they have since resumed collection after the municipality approached Central Government through the Communities Ministry for a bailout of $475,635, 245 to settle the city’s debt to Puran Brothers, Cevons, and another company after they would have pulled their services owing to non-payment.
The bailout was granted, and Central Government decided to pick up the tab until December 31, 2017 after which the M&CC would step in.
