Save Sofia warned that the waste collection crisis in the capital is far from “under control“ and insists that the Sofia Municipality immediately and clearly explain its actions to citizens, municipal councilors and district mayors. “The data and facts from recent months show that instead of reforming waste collection, Sofia ended up with more expensive contracts, a preserved old model and a real deterioration in the quality of the service”, said Boris Bonev - chairman of Save Sofia.
“Here's how it can be cleaned up in Poduyane - you just have to announce a press conference in front of the trash cans. "From now on, I am announcing - I am inviting the media to 3,000 press conferences in Poduyane and Krasno Selo to every container," Bonev joked after three trucks and the PR of the Garbage Plant unexpectedly appeared at the press conference announced in front of a point in the Hadji Dimitar residential area that had not been cleaned since Christmas.
According to Bonev, the announced "battle with the garbage mafia" has ended in triumph. The signed and extended contracts are priced significantly above the municipality's own estimates, and the promises of new rules, real competition and higher requirements have remained only in rhetoric. "Instead of holding a timely and well-prepared competition, the municipality entered into a conflict at the last moment without a plan and without capacity," Bonev said. This has led to dirty streets and more expensive garbage collection for Sofia residents.
After 9 million leva were allocated for the purchase of equipment from the municipal company “Sofekostroy” on the initiative of Spasi Sofia, the party called on Mayor Terziev to declare a state of emergency in the areas affected by the crisis. According to them, this will allow for the mobilization of equipment and people and assistance from the state. “Now is not the time for measuring PR, but for action”, said Bonev and announced that Spasi Sofia is submitting a report on waiving the municipal waste fee for at least 3 months for the residents of Poduyane, Slatina, Krasno Selo, Lyulin and Izgrev.
„While in other European cities the refusal to pay the mafia leads to temporary crises, in Sofia the bins are overflowing “by contract” and at a higher price”, he also commented. “Even the contract concluded on December 23 with the municipal “Sofekostroy” is at prices higher than Terziev's estimates”, Bonev commented and added that this is yet another shaming of the municipal council by the mayor. The Sofia municipal council created a special commission that should have been informed about the work with the municipal company. “Nobody has informed us and then they will say - they don't want us to work together”, Bonev commented.
The mayor of the “Krasno Selo” district Tsveta Nikolaeva described the situation on the ground as systematically and deeply wrong. According to her, the district has been left without adequate cleaning for months, the internal streets are not serviced, hundreds of containers are broken, and the accumulated waste already poses a direct risk to people's health. She stressed that even with the new contract with the municipal company “Sofekostroy”, the restoration of the service to normal levels is not expected in the near future.
The mayor of the “Poduyane“ district, Kristiyan Hristov, stated that the crisis regime in the district continues, but without a clear plan and coordination between the responsible units. According to him, garbage collection often depends on chaotic reactions to publications on social networks, instead of the prepared organization. “In plain text - the PR of the Garbage Plant sends trucks to clean up what it saw in the groups. This leads to chaos and the accumulation of even more waste”, commented Hristov.
Spasi Sofia emphasizes that the crisis cannot be covered up with assurances that everything is under control. The party insists that the Sofia Municipality take responsibility, honestly inform all affected parties and present a clear, public plan for getting out of the situation. Until this happens, claims of “control“ sound disconnected from the reality that Sofia residents see every day on their streets, they say.