Following an inspection of the activities of the town’s urban solid waste and street cleaning service, STV Management, who are paid the annual sum of 5 million euros, the town hall has found 12 serious breaches of the contract, stating that unless they are corrected as a matter of urgency they do not rule out the termination of the agreement.
As a result of the breaches they have also invoked a fine on the contractor amounting to almost 90,000 euros, to which the company has 15 days to appeal.
During the 2021 financial year, the town Council has carried out “an exhaustive inspection” in line with the specifications that were agreed for the initial tender, “in order to monitor the service that it is currently being delivered.
The reports says that 10 vehicles have been paid for by the council and should bear the livery of the Council, although many of them were shown to have been inactive for 300 days in a row in 2021.
The inspection report, compiled by the technical services, also shows “serious breaches by STV Management”, in the number of personnel, and the machinery assigned to the service of street cleaning and waste collection.
Neither has the firm hired personnel to cover long-term sickness or leave, nor has it contributed to Social Security for the workers assigned to the service. Laborers are being used as drivers and a road cleaning manager is missing from the morning shift.
In addition, the inspection found faults in 26 vehicles, mainly in garbage trucks, sweepers and scrubbers, in addition to the machinery that has not been operational for unacceptably long periods, in some cases over 300 days.
The Councillor for Public Services, Adrián López, said that the street cleaning service and RSU in the municipality “is the contract that takes the most money from the municipal budget” and that it is currently not providing value for money.
He added that “this is the first time that the City Council has opened a file against a contractor ” and it is appropriate “that they are made aware of the report’s findings so that it can respond to the observations made by the council’s inspectors.”
