On the day a mega cleaning campaign starts in the capital to solve the problem of accumulated garbage, which has been going on since December 2020, the analyst pointed out that the emergency action announced on Saturday is positive, but questioned the ability of the companies selected by tender to assume waste management in the future.
On Saturday, the Government announced the launch of a cleaning mega-campaign involving 12 companies, which will participate voluntarily, and personnel from the Armed Forces, to support operators selected by tender in the collection of garbage and recognized that the problem carries risks for public health.
Carlos Rosado was in agreement with the emergency strategy adopted, given the health and environmental risks, because "Luanda was a dump in the open", but expressed doubts about the tender, despite admitting that the companies "inherited a complicated situation ".
"Apparently, the selected companies do not have the means, the equipment or the credibility in the market. There was even talk of problems with the deposit of guarantee, if these companies are not even able to convince the banks to have a guarantee, that means a lot about capacity, "noted the journalist and university professor.
The seven companies (in addition to the public operator, Elisal, were selected by Er-Sol, Sambiente, Multilim cleaning, Jump Business, Chay Chay and the Dassala / Envirobac Consortium) were selected from 39 candidates who competed for the public tender opened by Provincial Government of Luanda (GPL) in February.
The economist considered that the emergency action and the creation of an interministerial commission to manage the garbage in Luanda also implies a "disallowance" of the governor, Joana Lina, who, being not responsible for the previous situation, "managed the post-termination very badly" of contracts.
The GPL suspended in December the contracts with the six cleaning operators that operated in Luanda due to an accumulated debt of 246 billion kwanzas, the payment of which is now being negotiated with the companies, according to the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves.
Carlos Rosado de Carvalho therefore defended that the waste management should be ensured by a single public company - in this case, Elisal (Luanda Sanitation and Cleaning Company) or an intermunicipal company - that could count on external technical consultancy.
"We will see, once the emergency situation is overcome, what companies can or cannot do," he said, suggesting that the ideal would be for Elisal to take on the task, which, in his view, would not imply higher costs, despite the investment. associated with the acquisition of equipment.
"Private companies always overcharge because they know that they will receive late and at bad times, they will have problems, they will receive at the exchange rate for signing the contract, etc. and then they overcharge because no private person accepts to collect the garbage without the price including the risk they are taking, namely that of non-payment ", highlighted the analyst.
Carlos Rosado also stated that "there is nothing to say that a private company is better than a public company" to provide this service.
"I think that garbage collection must be a public service", he continued, admitting that it is also necessary to improve the collection of fees, namely associating the bill with other public services, such as water or electricity.
"Clearly, musseques should not pay fees, but I see no reason why they should not do so in the urban area and in centralities and other urbanizations", he stressed.
Luanda province produces at least 6800 tonnes of solid waste daily, which were collected by six cleaning operators by 2020 and have been accumulating over the past few months, causing displeasure among residents and increasing the risks of diseases such as cholera, typhoid or malaria.
