MARGAO: Calling for a vision document on garbage management, Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Dr Babita Prabhudessai said that door to door garbage collection in Margao would be outsourced shortly as the council “is ill-equipped to deal with it.”
Margao councilors interacted with officials of the Goa State Urban Development Agency and Solid Waste Management Corporation on Friday where a detailed discussion was held on managing the garbage generated in Margao.
The MMC demanded more labourers to collect the garbage from all the 25 wards and also more vehicles to transport the garbage to the plant. GSUDA has agreed to fund seven rickshaws to collect the garbage while MMC is purchasing two compactors and two trucks from grants it has got.
Besides, GSUDA has agreed to provide one baling machine of 10 horsepower to the MMC to bale its segregated plastic waste whose collection has improved greatly since a private agency was appointed to collect segregated waste in Fatorda constituency and this machine is likely to be commissioned next week.
MMC is also all set to get three machines that will compost wet waste like the one used at Navelim panchayat. “These machines will be installed in the markets with two at the SGPDA market and one at the Gandhi market,” said Dr Babita.
However, she and the GSUDA and Solid Waste Management Corporation officials were of the opinion that the door to door waste collection will have to be outsourced and Dr Babita along with the officials woujld meet the Director of Municipal Administration next week over this matter.
MMC has been trying to outsource garbage collection for nearly a year and a half. While earlier there was only one bidder for the tender, the Directorate of Municipal Administration has been sitting over the matter for nearly six months when after all the formalities were completed the file was sent to that office to select the contractor.
Outsourcing door to door garbage collection will not only negate the need to employ more staff but also free some of the vehicles for other purposes.
