“It would be possible for the Municipality of Antofagasta to acquire a fleet of trucks through a one-time investment of nearly $4.4 billion pesos”. This is part of the proposal put forward by the councilor of the Revolutionary Workers Party (PTR) and emergency doctor at the Regional Hospital, Natalia Sánchez, who, throughout her mandate, has questioned the “trash business”” that exists and that has generated the waste of billions of pesos in “direct deals”or contracts via bidding, with private companies such as Demarco, SoloVerde, among others, for the work of garbage collection and, on the other hand, street sweeping and cleaning.
As is public knowledge, in the last municipal council, dated June 10, it was reported that, finally, no agreement was reached with the Isidora Pacheco Trading and Importing company for the award of the street sweeping and cleaning contract; Therefore, the proposal of the administration of Mayor Jonathan Velásquez would be a new contract via direct treatment.
Added to this is that the contract for the household garbage collection service is about to expire, which would give way to a new bidding process or direct deal for this essential work.
A situation that has put the existing model of outsourcing of essential tasks in its sights, such as the collection and cleaning of the commune. Let us remember that in August of last year, it was announced that the municipality has spent more than $28,000 million on contracts under the direct treatment modality, between January 1, 2021 and June 31, 2023. Of this millionaire amount, at least $26,000 “they do not comply with the law”, according to a report from the Control Directorate of the town hall itself. The bulk of these monies have been transferred to private companies under the administration of Mayor Velásquez.
Given this, Councilor Sánchez has deeply questioned the garbage business, protected by the outsourcing system for these services, and has stated, on repeated occasions, that the Municipality is the entity that should be directly responsible for guaranteeing these services. essential work for the community.
Investment in a fleet of trucks and tools and “transfer to the plant” of sweeping collection workers
In his proposal, Sánchez argues that “During the last municipal governments, private contracting of this vital service has been encouraged. This private management of sweeping and collection through tenders and direct deals has deteriorated the service for the community and degenerated the work of its workers, without solving this crisis, on the contrary, it has worsened.”.
Based on this, the Antofagasta councilor realizes that “There are examples of another way of providing this service, such as the case of the province of Llanquihue, which purchased nine trucks whose unit value amounted to $110 million. Under this budget, it would be possible for the Municipality of Antofagasta to acquire a fleet of trucks through a one-time investment of nearly $4.4 billion pesos.”indicates the document presented to the municipal administration and councilors.
“Additionally, thinking about a larger number of workers, in order to reduce the number of working hours and establishing a salary that responds, at least, to the economic needs in the region, we could imagine a budget of 250 workers with a salary of $800. thousand pesos per month, a year amounts to an amount of $2.4 billion pesos”continues the project presented.
With these specific data, Councilor Sánchez proposes that the Municipality of Antofagasta really take charge of these tasks, investing resources in the acquisition of trucks and the necessary tools, in addition to absorbing the workers into the town hall; This, also considering that there are places available in the Municipality and that the provision of “plant officials” It is not yet complete.
An investment considered totally necessary, not only for the Municipality to take direct responsibility for these essential tasks for the commune, but also to put an end to the garbage business, protected by the outsourcing system for these services.
To achieve this, not only does the Municipality of Antofagasta have a high budget, but it also has various means of collecting resources. “In 2023, various media outlets announced the donations that the municipality receives from liturgical companies, such as SQM and Albemarle, for $11,000 million. Some of these resources were destined for plazas that were not built, all financial items must be immediately reviewed to find these resources and focus them (…) Since 2022, various debtors of commercial patents filed prescription actions against the municipality. By reviewing what is prescribed by the large patent debtors (more than 10 million), a figure of almost $2,000 million can be obtained”says Councilor Sánchez.
The proposal presented by the mayor was accompanied by the request for a work meeting, starting on June 26, with the aim of delving into this discussion and settling a proposal that changes, in a profound and serious way, the serious reality that the population faces the garbage crisis and the existing business with the outsourcing model of these essential services.
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