The demand for Urbaser to fulfil waste collection and street cleaning services in Candelaria has been voiced by Mari Brito, the mayor. The municipal councilor stated, “We witnessed a clear example over the weekend, where many parts of the municipality were left unattended in terms of garbage collection.” The issues have been raised multiple times with the responsible parties of the company in Tenerife, and in light of their inaction, their discontent was conveyed to the management in Madrid yesterday.
The mayor is anticipating an immediate response. Failing this, necessary actions will be taken to rectify the situation, once the new contract, which is currently stalled due to the submission of two appeals before the Administrative Court of Public Contracts of the Government of the Canary Islands, is signed. One of the appeals happens to be from Urbaser, a company that secured the second position in the competition.
It is important to note that the Candelaria City Council definitively awarded the waste collection, street, and coastal cleaning to Valoriza Servicios Medioambientales SA in the November municipal plenary session, for a sum of 20,158,217.06 euros and another 1,411,075.19 euros.
Complaints about the garbage service in Candelaria have been on the rise in recent years, primarily due to the growing population and the delay in the bidding process for the new service. Urbaser’s lack of resources, despite having been in charge of the service for 23 years – it commenced in 2001 with a 10-year tenure and a possibility of a 5-year extension – has resulted in unsightly scenes on the streets, from the medians to the town. This is despite the recent improvements made before the commencement of the competition. The mayor now accuses a neglect of the service, which will continue to be carried out by the same workers when Valoriza officially takes over, as stipulated in the specifications.
A Prolonged Wait
Candelaria has been waiting for over four years to proceed with the specifications of the new contract for solid waste collection and street and public building cleaning, which has been stalled due to several processing errors, a situation that seemed to have been rectified in November when the service was awarded to Valoriza. Now, similar to other tenders, the resolution of the presented resources will need to be awaited before the commencement of the award, as was the case with the indoor municipal swimming pool.
