By Jordan G. Habbiling
THE legislative body, through a resolution, has requested the City Mayor’s Office to conduct a feasibility study on privatizing garbage collection in the city.
The resolution claimed that the plan to privatize may result in cost reduction and may bring about increased efficiency.
In an interview, Eugene Buyucan, Chief of the General Services Office (GSO), said he is open to the idea of commissioning a private company for the city’s garbage collection. He said that the city may be able to cut its expenses for the said operation.
Buyucan disclosed that the city spends around P240 million a year for the collection of garbage and hauling of waste to the sanitary landfill. Of the amount, P150 million is earmarked in the city’s annual budget for the administrative cost of garbage collection and the delivery of waste to the transfer station.
The administrative cost includes the maintenance of the city’s 19 hauler trucks, the salary and benefits of workers and volunteers, and the purchase of protective gear and uniforms for the same. The local government annually spends around P90 million for the hauling cost of the generated waste and for tipping fees collected by the operator in the Urdaneta sanitary landfill.
“If we bring in a private company, the city may be able to save money used for personal services, for the procurement of vehicles, and for maintenance,” Buyucan said.
Moreover, Buyucan agreed that the move towards privatization may introduce more efficient services in garbage collection.
“Our current system is working. Our services are somehow satisfactory. Sadly, we have limited manpower resources and vehicles that is why our performance is not at its optimal level,” Buyucan explained.
“A private company works efficiently because it is performance-based and it can always employ more workers to meet the demands of the job,” he added.
The resolution stated that the move to privatize garbage collection in the city has long been proposed by some concerned sectors but was not fully recognized, thus was shelved.
The current public health emergency has brought to the fore the need to revisit the clamor to privatize the collection of garbage in the city, the resolution asserted.
Buyucan acknowledged the need for speedy collection of waste to maintain sanitation in the city amid the COVID-19 outbreak, a task that is challenging on the part of the local government’s garbage collectors due to limited manpower.
“If the feasibility study proves that this move will improve the delivery of public service, then we will support it,” Buyucan stated.
“We would not jump right away into privatization. The feasibility study will guide the city in its policy-making. The prevailing assumption is that privatization will be advantageous as it may be more efficient and practical, but our approach in our decisions has to be scientific and scholarly,” Buyucan added.
The resolution stipulated that the terms of reference shall be prepared by the General Services Office (GSO) and/or the City Mayor’s Office if the feasibility study concludes that the privatization of garbage collection will be favorable to the city.
