The Fospuca garbage collection service in the city of Barinas was extended for only seven weeks, from September 1, 2022 to October 25, a period in which no understanding was achieved between the socialist mayor’s office and the commercial sector for the Application of home urban cleaning fees
Author: Bianile Rivas – the whistle
Fospuca finally ceased its operations in Barinas. Its garbage collection service in the city of Marquesa was extended for only seven weeks, from September 1, 2022 to October 25, a period in which did not reach understanding between the socialist mayor’s office and the commercial sector for the application of the rates of home urban sanitation.
They were almost two months of controversy that led to street protests, the constitution of new trade union blocks and the definitive departure of Fospuca from the llanero territory. The solid waste collection company, owned by lawyer and businessman José Simón Elarba Haddad, was unable to establish itself in Barinas as it has done since 2014 in Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo (Greater Caracas), Iribarren and Jiménez (Lara) Maneiro (Nueva Esparta). ) San Diego (Carabobo) and in El Tigre (Anzoátegui).
“In accordance with the provisions of the contract, the settlement of the concession was reached (…) no agreements were reached on the amounts of the rates and, in common agreement, the decision was made to terminate the service, to prevent the generation of other legal situations”, Mayor Rafael Paredes announced at a press conference on Wednesday, October 26.
The center of the controversy was in the tariff schedule imposed by the company. According to the Comprehensive Association of Merchants, Industrialists and Organized Civil Society (Asocoimbar), this began to be applied without having been approved by the Municipal Chamber.
“Cost structures were not established in a transparent manner, nor was the price of the service honest in accordance with the respective ordinance,” explained Marlon Maya on September 15 during a protest by merchants.
The business leader Rogelio Peña assured that a collection was attempted that does not have the support of a rate ordinance by the Municipal Chamber, which is the competent body.
“It would be an improper charge. And everything seems to indicate that two charges would be made, one for the use of the sanitary landfill and the other for the collection of waste », he specified.
The merchants questioned other double charges that were intended to be made in the shopping centers, where they had to pay as tenants and, in turn, for the waste generated by their premises. This was stated by business owners from the Doña Miriam and El Dorado Shopping Centers.
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Through the Fospuca scheme, residential buildings reported charging high rates, compared to those they paid up to two months ago. In the Doña Grazzia residential complex, made up of 72 apartments, the amounts were calculated in the order of 10 dollars; while in Ciudad Tavacare, a condominium made up of 4,000 apartments, 1 dollar was set for each one.
It was not possible to lower more than 20% of the total amount of the fees, which would be assumed by the mayor’s office, and 15%, which would be assumed by Fospuca, a situation that motivated this decision to terminate the contract, reported Mayor Paredes.
Regarding the 270 workers of Fospuca, the mayor assured that he cannot assume the commitment with all of them, but pointed out that progressively a part will be incorporated into the payroll of the mayor’s office, due to the possibilities that the municipality and the company that assume the service responsibly.
Fospuca official statement
Through an official statement, signed on Wednesday, October 26, Fospuca confirmed the end of its solid waste collection services in the Barinas municipality and acknowledges that it did not reach an understanding between the capital’s mayor’s office and the local commercial sector.
“After countless sessions of dialogue and exchange of information between the mayor’s office and a sector of the city’s commerce about the public service we provide, we have decided to end the continuity of the provision of the service by Fospuca in Barinas,” they explain. .
*Also read: Commercial strike in El Tigre in rejection of Urban Cleaning rates
The company highlights that after having received the formal request from the municipal authority to meet the needs of solid waste collection in the city of Barinas, and having complied with all the corresponding legal requirements, it proceeded to make the investments required for the correct and efficient implementation of the service.
Likewise, it indicates that “once the rates were approved by the authority, they were made known to the community.”
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