In September the Municipality of Montevideo (IM) would begin “an orderly transition” to deprivatize the cleaning service that the Consorcio Ambiental del Plata (CAP) in the Cordón, Ciudad Vieja, Barrio Sur and Palermo neighborhoods.
The idea of the commune was to take control of cleaning in those areas, within the framework of its “Greener Montevideo” strategy. The decision was announced by the mayor, Carolina Cosse, because it meant a significant change in the organization of the cleaning of those neighborhoods. The private company cleaned them since 2004.
But the negotiations with CAP took longer than expected and “the orderly transition” became a round trip of negotiations to agree how the IM will absorb the personnel of the company that is in charge of cleaning those areas and how the trucks and containers will be allocated.
For that, the commune did not renew the contract with CAP, which expired in December 2022but solved sign a “direct and exceptional” contract for three months while negotiations continued. The contract expires in March and the IM has already decided that it will extend the contract again for “up to two more months”.
The main reason is that the IM has not yet been able to decide how it will absorb the almost 300 CAP workers, although he does maintain that jobs will be secured indicated the director of Environmental Development, Guillermo Moncecchito The Observer.
The fate of the sweepers
The possibility that the commune sought during these months was that the workers were hired through a trust fund that the IM I hoped it would be with a public institution. To do this, they sought the approval of the National Corporation for Development (CND) and the Republic of Investment Funds Administrator (Rafisa), but neither of the two institutions agreed to set up the trust fund that the commune needed for the street sweepers.
Now the IM is going to have to look for alternatives for the 200 CAP workers who do the sweeping tasks and the options that he is considering is to go to a private or a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), but it is not defined yet. “Equally we are going to fulfill the commitment to do it, with the format that we find, but we have to continue looking for the solution,” Moncecchi declared and remarked: “The IM proposal to keep all the jobs is still standing, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself because we are working.”
What the CND did accept is contract directly, through a trust, CAP technical staff, which includes drivers and mechanics, For example. However, the sweepers were left out of that agreementconfirmed sources from the CND board.
The CND’s decision to seek an “intermediate solution” is for a previous bad experience with cleaning staff. According to the sources, last year a trust was contracted to cleaners for ANEP that did not have controls by the administration. In fact, the situation ended with the intervention of the Ministry of Labor and Justice, they assured the CND board.
For this reason, the organization considers that It is safer for an NGO or a private company to hire the sweeperswho has experience in this field and is in charge of the controls of compliance with schedules and tasks and that the CND pays the organization.
Trucks and containers will be from CAP
Despite the fact that CAP’s private services They are extended for up to two more months while the definitive solution is closed, Moncecchi explained that simultaneously “IM will begin to have operational control” of cleaning of those neighborhoods municipality B. For this, the commune is agreeing with the company how they will control the areas “to have better efficiency.” The most noticeable changes will be, for example, in the aesthetics of trucks and containers.
This control will be taken by the IM although neither the employees nor the trucks and containers will be under the orbit of the administration. About logistics, Moncecchi said that the infrastructure will not be purchased, but will be leased to CHAP until the end of the period of the current departmental government. Therefore, the commune will pay to use and maintain the company’s machinery.
When the contract with CAP ended, at the end of last year, Cosse stated that “it is a political definition”. “Because what we are defining is the Greener Montevideo strategy, which is working in the rest of Montevideo. Faced with a vacuum, because the contract of this company expires, we extend it to all of Montevideo“, said.
