Pyin Oo Lwin’s garbage collection system, which was handed over to be managed by a private company since February 2016, will be handled by the Pyin Oo Lwin City Development Committee beginning April 1, 2017.
Officials from the Pyin Oo Lwin City Development Committee said that the move was a directive from the Mandalay Region Ministry of City Development, adding that there are plans to reduce the garbage collection tax rates by half.
“We’re doing this according to the directions of the Ministry of City Development, so our City Development Committee is doing it.
“As the responsibility has returned to the City Development Committee, there are plans to cut the garbage collection tax rates in half, compared to what the private companies had collected,” U Than Win, deputy director and executive of Pyin Oo Lwin township City Development Committee, told The Myanmar Times.
“There are eleven garbage trucks, which are ready to collect the waste, and the necessary employees have also been hired. It will only take about one or two months to get all mandatory things settled. I request that the public to also give their cooperation to this service,” he said.
U Than Win said a new garbage dumpsite has also been constructed, adding that the garbage would be destroyed with Japanese technology.
Pyin Oo Lwin City Development Committee representatives had earlier requested for the permit to be given back to private companies using an open tender system.
“Since long ago, the garbage collection system of the Pyin Oo Lwin City Development Committee has not been successful. During 2016, this service was given over to the private sector, resulting in high garbage tax, but at least the inner and outer areas of the city were clean,” U Ko Ko Gyi, a representative of Pyin Oo Lwin City Development Committee of Ward No. (3), said to The Myanmar Times.
“Now, the City Development Committee is going to collect the garbage again. The auction system can bring in capital and revenue. The city will be clean and neat.
“In order to collect the waste, the City Development Committee also has to purchase garbage trucks. That cost has to be taken from the city’s budget, which means that funding for other necessary areas will be less.
“Nevertheless, we have to wait and be patient with the new garbage collection system,” said U Ko Ko Gyi.
In response, U Than Win said that garbage collection was one of the main services carried out by the City Development Committee, and assured people that the task would be done well and efficiently.
A private company called “Myo Gon Saung Cleaning Service Company” was given a long-term permit to manage the garbage collection system beginning from February 2016.
The company had to pay K5,700,000 for garbage tax and K1,000,000 for sanitation tax to the City Development Committee. It collected a monthly fee of K1,000 to K3,000 from the public for the collection of household garbage, and K6,000 to K40,000 for collecting garbage from businesses. Garbage from government schools, religious buildings, and related departments were collected free-of-charge.
Source: The Myanmar Times
