Bids for trash hauling contract open today

CEBU, Philippines - The public bidding for the P124-million contract covering the hauling trash from Cebu City to Consolacion for September to December opens tomorrow.

Bids and Awards Committee Head Ronaldo Malacora said that this 9 a.m. they will officially open the public bidding.

After the opening, the Technical Working Group is expected to conduct post-qualification of the participating bidders. There are three types of documents that the TWG team should inspect to ensure a service provider is completely qualified in all the legal, technical, and financial aspects of their bid.

For legal documents, they should have business permits, tax clearance, Department of Trade Industry registration, and Bureau of Internal Revenue registration, among others.

Their technical documents should stipulate where the private hauler will dispose of city's garbage. They must also secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and provide the number of hauling equipment it has.

Financial documents should prove the service provider is financially capable of such services.

Three private haulers have already submitted their respective documents; Jomara Konstruckt Inc. which was the previous service provider of the city, Pasajero Motors Corp. which is the present service provider, and Quirante Construction.

As per rules, TWG will start reviewing the documents of the service provider that offers the smallest tipping fee price per ton of garbage. However, offering a lowest price does not guarantee the service provider will be awarded the contract as the TWG still has to look at their documents.

Malacora said there was a new condition included in the terms of reference for the hauling contract; the private hauler should negotiate with the privately-owned landfill in Consolacion allowing city government personnel inside the facility to monitor the weighing of garbage.

This condition is meant to address the concern of the city council over paying the right amount as the city government does not have a way to countercheck the hauled garbage because the weighing scale in the trash transfer station is unusable.

Former city council chairman on environment, Councilor Joel Garganera said this measure is too late.

“It’s part of the drama, nakit-an naman ang ilang dakong sayop ug pabaya sa interest sa siyudad, mao nga naghimo sila niana nga lakang. Too late, what they did for more than two months is totally disadvantageous to our city,” he said.

To recall, he was among councilors who questioned why there was no City Hall employee at the private landfill to monitor the operation, knowing that the weighing scale at the transfer station was unserviceable.

The Department of Public Services earlier explained that the owners of the landfill did not allow them to enter. (FREEMAN)