Mangaluru: MCC held a press meet at the conference hall here on January 6.
Addressing the mediapersons deputy mayor Purushotham said that Antony Waste Handling cell Pvt Ltd has signed a contract with MCC, for 7 years. According to the agreement the company should do door-to-door waste collection, mechanized street sweeping for 25km everyday and provide uniform, hand gloves and shoes for the waste collecting staff which the company has failed to follow.
He further said that MCC has already paid Rs 17.68 crore to the company and only September and October payment is pending. They have submitted the November bill which is under scrutiny and the December bill is yet to be submitted. Once the company sends the invoice we have 90 days time to do the payment. In some newspapers it has been mentioned that the Antony Waste Management has sent us the notice to do the payment which is false. We did not get any notice for payment but from the past two months we are calling the Managing director of Antony Waste Handling Cell to meet us. We are waiting for the MD to meet us. There are a number of complaints from the public about the handling of waste. Yes the company is good in waste collection but the staff do not wear uniform, gloves or shoes and they do not follow any rules and regulations while handling the waste.
He also said that earlier according to the agreement they have agreed to sweep 25 KMs of street everyday instead they sweep only 10 to 15 KM per day. There are no lapses in payment but they have failed in their duties. This is the third time they have suspended the collection of waste by giving the reason of non payment. The company should provide mobilization chart to the MCC but since they have failed to provide it, it has caused the delay in payment.
Addressing the mediapersons MCC Commissioner Dr H N Gopalkrishna said that we have agreed to do the payment by January 1st week but without any information the company has suspended the waste collection. The company has signed the contract for 7 years and already they have suspended the collection of waste three times. If such situation continues we have to take legal action against the company. We have already served them two notices and soon we will serve the third one for suspending the collection of waste without our knowledge.
Former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde said that within two weeks we will have a meeting with the MLA along with Antony Waste Handling company MD, discuss all the issues and try to solve the problems. It is in the interest of the MCC and the company to work with co-operation, understanding and coordination. If such problems continue we need to take the issue seriously and look for the best. The pending amount will be paid soon, he added.
corporators Prakash B Salian and Deepak Poojary, Environmental Engineer Madhu and others were also present.