DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 5 Feb) – To save on maintenance expenses because of the budget cut brought about by its reduced internal revenue allotment (IRA), this city is farming out garbage collection to the private sector, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte revealed.
In an interview Tuesday at the Wireless Cemetery here, where he paid respects to his departed mother Soledad who died two years ago, Duterte said maintenance of garbage trucks was becoming tedious, especially with the mechanized trucks.
“The problem is that it takes months to replace damaged parts if these need replacing,” he lamented.
Duterte said contractors who would take over the garbage collection in the city would have no problem replacing the parts. He said the city will be asking bidders to take over the garbage collection.
“We can do this if the citizens of the city approves,” Duterte said.
He added that doing this would curb a “lazy” and “syndicated” practice of garbage collection truck maintenance, where truck parts take months before being replaced.
Duterte said this was already the practice in other local government units such as those in Quezon City and Manila.
City hall is also considering the privatization of city enterprises such as public terminals.
Last Tuesday, the committee on finance of the Sangguniang Panlungsod told media the city’s IRA has been slashed by P13.8 million as an effect of the cityhood of San Pedro in Laguna and the transfer of Barangay San Isidro from the municipality of Bangui to Dumalneg in Ilocos Norte.
The Department of Budget and Management told the Davao City government that its IRA share was adjusted to P2.898 billion from a previously allotted P2.912 billion for 2014.