The president dismissed the idea that there were hidden intentions behind the authorization granted to the AAUD, stating that his only interest is to collect garbage and solve a long-standing problem in the district to ensure the health of the residents. However, he hinted that the municipality's initial plan might have particular ambitions.
«All that work is being snatched away today, the dream of turning San Miguelito into a model city is reduced to an authority that only knows how to rent equipment to carry out an inefficient collection,» he declared.
The garbage problem in San Miguelito continues to generate opinions among the authorities. This Thursday, President José Raúl Mulino made it clear that the funds that the company Elektra Noreste S.A. (ENSA) delivered to the Municipality as a cleaning fee will not be managed by this institution starting next Monday, when the Urban and Domestic Cleaning Authority (AAUD) will take over the service.
Mayor Irma Hernández believes that the AAUD does not have the necessary capacity to address the district's problem and classified the Executive's decision as a «political attack» that has left the community with more questions than answers.
«The funds that ENSA delivers to the Municipality for charging the cleaning fee, will not be delivered anymore because it is not true that we are going to give the money to the mayor and we are going to be left with the garbage,» he emphasized.
«This is not an ego contest, this is solving a problem for the population of San Miguelito that has every right to live without garbage,» he said.
He also detailed that they have been in talks with the company Revisalud to guarantee the payment of their benefits to the workers before their contract with the Municipality ends; otherwise, they have an alternative plan to face these obligations that amount to more than 1 million dollars.
He added that the Municipality's proposal included a complete differentiated collection plan with recycling programs, community transfer centers, transformation of public spaces, and more, but with the Government's decision, it has been reduced to the contracting of garbage trucks.
The president assured that the decision made in the Council of Ministers is based on the AAUD law and article #236 of the Constitution, which empowers the State to complement municipal management when it is insufficient, in cases of serious epidemic, public disorder, or other reasons of general interest.
«I don't know what interest this lady is referring to, the only interest we have is to collect garbage, but maybe in the plan that was, they did have crossed interests,» he pointed out.
The administrator of the AAUD, Ovil Moreno, for his part, detailed that the more than 250 critical points in the district have been controlled, and they are working with the National Aqueducts and Sewers Institute (IDAAN) to repair the damage to the potable water pipes found near the garbage dumps and to continue providing the service as of Monday, January 19th.
He indicated that, from January 1st to date, more than 3,000 tons of garbage have been collected.
He requested that those involved in the matter stop throwing «smoke screens» where there are none because there is no «deal» in this matter other than to collect the waste in an orderly manner starting next week.
