The legal advisor to the governor of the province of Luanda, Dário Bamba, said that the illegal removal of containers by operators, following the suspension of contracts in December, "made the problem of garbage in Luanda worse".
"At the moment, procedures are in place for the accountability of companies that removed the containers, so the contracts that were signed with the companies are clear, that is, once the contracts are terminated, the means and equipment, as containers, remain for the contracting entity ", stated Dário Bamba.
On the sidelines of the community consultation council where the "Strategy for the Implementation of the Solid Waste Management Model" was presented in Luanda, Dário Bamba said that containers were removed throughout the province.
The Government of Luanda had, until last November, an accumulated debt of more than 246 billion kwanzas, a situation that "forced" the governor, Joana Lina, to suspend contracts with six operators for "inability to settle" late payments.
Garbage outbreaks in Luanda, especially on primary and secondary roads, taxi stops, markets, crosswalks and neighborhoods, have recently marked the daily life of Luanda, with people expressing "indignation" at the bleak scenario.
"Other companies have chosen to remove the garbage disposal containers from the streets of Luanda in a clear violation of the provisions of the contracts. For this reason, we are taking all measures to ensure that the legality is restored," said Joana Lina, at the opening of the meeting.
Dário Bamba explained that there was a termination of seven-year contracts with the operators, established in 2016, and that within the scope of the successive inspection of the Court of Auditors it was reduced to four years.
"And no longer for seven years as initially established, then the contracts [with the cleaning and waste collection operators] ended their validity in 2020", he stressed.
According to the authorities, new public tenders for public service concession will soon be launched based on a model approved in 2018 by the economic commission of the Council of Ministers.
An "emergency plan for public cleaning" in Luanda is already underway, as announced at the meeting, the director of the Environment, Solid Waste Management and Community Services office in the capital, Vânia Vaz.
A mega garbage collection campaign, which will be led by Joana Lina, is scheduled for next Monday.
