Bacolod justifying waster collector’s failure – city dad

[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]

[av_heading heading=’Bacolod justifying waster collector’s failure – city dad ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
[/av_heading]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

BACOLOD City – A councilor claimed the city government was “biased” toward its contracted garbage collector.
The Department of Public Services (DPS) justified the IPM Construction and Development Corp.’s failure to perform its job well, Ricardo Tan stressed.
Under a P59.4-million environmental sanitary service contract, the city government hired the IPM to collect garbage from Sept. 2 to Dec. 31 on a “total cleanup” basis (no sanitary landfill maintenance).
The Sangguniang Panlungsod got hold of a report on the performance of the IPM — something it had been asking from DPS head Nelson Sedillo.
According to Tan, the Nov. 13 report, which Sedillo submitted to Mayor Evelio Leonardia, should present the “actual situation” insofar as garbage collection is concerned.
But it turned out to be a brief “situationer” that showed the city government’s bias toward the contractor, he said.
The councilor stressed this was clearly shown in the following passage that Sedillo stated in the report:
“Because of the unanticipated tremendous backlog left behind by the previous contractor, IPM Construction experienced difficulty for more than three weeks in removing the old garbage piling up and left rotten in every tambakan within their area of collection.
“This is one of the reasons that in spite of the intensive effort by IPM to implement cleanup operation, there were still remnants of the old tambakan noticeable in some parts of the city which they are trying to remove at the moment.”
It appeared like the DPS was acting as the contractor’s “spokesman,” said Tan.
The IPM had been criticized for failing to regularly collect waste in various parts of the city, especially in subdivisions.
It cited the “backlog” of uncollected garbage and the lack of sufficient collectors as factors in its “inefficiency.”
The IPM has since apologized to the residents and came up with a new schedule for collection in subdivisions.
Tan did not hide his discontent with the DPS report. He stressed it was “limited to the quantitative appraisal of the equipment” and had “no qualitative data … on the volume of garbage in Bacolod.”
The report also failed to state whether or not the collectors were wearing protective gear. “Where was it stated that the paleros were wearing boots, gloves and others? It was not here,” Tan claimed.
Tan said the contractor has the “moral obligation” to provide collectors protective gear, while the city has the “legal obligation” to make sure the contractor does so. Otherwise, “this is a big violation.”
He also claimed the waste collectors’ salaries were “delayed,” and this “violates welfare and labor standards.”
“The city and the DPS cannot wash their hands,” said Tan. “Under the Labor Code the city is solidarily liable for the IPM.”
Tan stressed the report was “nothing but an attempt to justify the contractor’s failure … [the] kind that can be generated even without going on-site.”/PN

[/av_textblock]

[/av_one_full]

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here