Representatives from Nicoya approved, for the third time in a year, trash collection for Nosara and Samara.
Environmental manager Jorge Isaac Esquivel and city legal advisor Vivian Leal said that it is difficult to confirm a date for service to begin because it depends on internal procedures like the referendum (signature from the legal department, purchase order and environmental workshops). Leal said it won’t take longer than two months.
We are going to start to provide the service at the same time that we are going to include users in the collection system so it doesn’t get delayed further,” said the head of the environmental department Jorge Isaac Esquivel.
Esquivel worries about the warnings from different institutions about the need for the service and the wrong use of the Nosara dump. The office of the ombudsman and the health ministry, the courts and the environmental tribunal have issued warnings.
The new contract, like the last two, had administrative problems and business interests. In the most recent instance, the supplier Teresa Fallas excluded General Collection and Cleaning Services, one of the four companies that participated in the bidding process because they turned their bid in a minute after the established hour.
The city ended up awarding it to Transportes Palquesa de Nicoya S.A. But the excluded company appealed to the comptroller claiming that they were on time. The comptroller ruled in favor of the company and when the local government studied the bids for a second time, General Collection and Cleaning Services was chosen for providing the lowest price.
This comptroller considers that the bid by the appellant must be considered since it was demonstrated that when the bidding was opened, a representative for the appellant was present,” the comptroller said.
When the service starts, these will be the routes the garbage truck will take. The trash will be taken to the dump.
| Day | Sector |
| Monday | San Fernando, Barco Quebrado, Garza. |
| Tuesday | Esperanza Sur, Pelada and Bocas, Guiones. |
| Wednesday | Guiones. |
| Thursday | Sección C, Arenales and Santa Teresita. |
| Friday | San Pedro and Nosara Centro. |
| Saturday | Sección EE, Santa Marta, Ostional and Barrio Los Ángeles. |
Contrary Positions
The representatives showed their disagreement with supplier Teresa Fallas’s performance for having excluded the company and having held an erroneous process.
Now the provider says nothing is wrong. That’s why this town is getting worse, because we don’t speak up,” said representative Raymer Loaiciga.
City president Saúl Cárdenas played down the conversation and said that the problem isn’t the council, but an administrative issue.
Teresa Salas said that she doesn’t agree with the issues raised by the representatives nor with the comptroller’s opinion. She added that she has always excluded those who didn’t present bids before the precise deadline and that she will continue doing so.
Historic Battle
In September last year, the service appeared to be near for Nosarans after at least five years of insisting by members of the Nosara Recycles Association and the Nosara Civic Association.
But, the city’s legal department halted the process because of an appeal filed by Aurora S.A, the company that currently collects trash in Nicoya and claims that they weren’t considered for the contract.
According to the city, it’s not possible to award trash collection to Aurora S. A. because if they were granted the contract for this new route it would mean paying them more than 50% more than they pay them for the service in Nicoya, which is illegal according to the public procurement law.
Officials from the department also pointed out negative criteria about the contract, but the council and the mayor’s office decided to continue with the process.
Four companies participated in the new bidding process and the contract was given to Palquesa S. A, but in September General Collection and Cleaning Services appealed and was chosen after a new study of the bids.
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