A new temporary organization for garbage collection comes into effect today in the metropolitan districts of "Lyulin" and "Krasno Selo". This was announced by Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev to journalists, BTA reports. Terziev pointed out that the reason for the Municipality's refusal to sign a contract with the only remaining participant in the public procurement was that he offered a price of 420 leva per ton.
„We clearly stated that we will not pay a „corruption“ fee“, said Terziev and assured that the Municipality is prepared with alternative options. According to him, in the next two weeks, the Sofia Municipality will carry out waste collection with its own forces until a permanent solution to the problem is found. „We have an action plan, the organization has been created. I appeal to citizens for patience and solidarity, and we will inform them daily how the situation is developing“, the mayor also said.
The director of the Sofia Waste Treatment Plant (SPTO) Nikolay Savov specified that the municipal structure has been preparing a scenario for a similar situation for months. “Preliminary organization has been carried out, tasks have been assigned to each of the teams and we are ready to immediately take over the garbage collection activity“, said Savov. According to him, the necessary equipment has been provided, routes have been prepared and waste accumulation will be monitored daily. He assured that there is no reason to worry about interruption of the service, and that the goal is to prevent garbage accumulation on the streets of the two regions. “We are ready to react to any need and redirect our resources according to the workload“, added Savov.
Deputy Mayor for Ecology Nadezhda Bobcheva called on the residents of the two regions to temporarily dispose of their waste mainly in the large gray containers, which will be located in eight places in “Lyulin“ and three in “Krasno Selo“. She asked citizens to refrain from throwing away construction, large-sized and green waste in the next two weeks and to continue using the containers for separate collection.
Bobceva noted that it is important during this period to stimulate the separate collection of waste in the yellow, blue and green containers, which will be serviced according to a schedule. She added that a map with the exact locations of the containers has been created so that citizens can easily find them, which will also be published on the Sofia Municipality channels. “I ask the residents of the districts to show understanding and responsibility - everyone can help by keeping the space around their home clean and reporting any violations to the Sofia Inspectorate“, the deputy mayor also said.
The mayor of the “Lyulin“ district, Georgi Todorov , reported that a crisis headquarters has been created that will monitor the cleaning on a daily basis. “We are ready to be on the ground every day with teams from the district administration and the inspectorate. In case of irregularities, we will immediately report them to the Sofia Municipality“, he said. Todorov added that he has already assigned the municipal company that serves the inter-block spaces to carry out daily cleaning of the bins at the stops and main streets. “We will not allow the area to be neglected, despite the difficult situation“, he stressed. According to him, about 250 thousand people actually live in “Lyulin“, which makes the organization particularly complex.
The mayor of “Krasno Selo“ Tsveta Nikolova expressed concern that the crisis has both political and economic dimensions. She pointed out that the region has limited human resources and insisted on a faster permanent solution, as the temporary plan cannot last more than two weeks.
Bulgaria Mayor Vasil Terziev said that talks with the company, which refused to reduce its price, will continue, but the Municipality will not accept an offer that exceeds three times the estimated price of 200 leva per ton. “I will not allow unreasonable prices to be paid for a service that can be performed at a real cost”, stressed Terziev.