Government extends garbage hauler contracts by six months

GREAT BAY--The Government of St. Maarten, through the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, VROMI, has extended the current solid waste collection contracts for the existing haulers for a period of six months in order to maintain continuity of garbage collection services.

The extension comes as the current contracts were set to expire on Tuesday, March 31. The temporary arrangement allows government to continue essential waste collection services while preparations are made for a new tendering process.

The six-month extension includes a provision allowing government to terminate the arrangement at any time should it decide to move forward with replacement contractors before the end of that period.

The interim measure follows public statements by Minister of VROMI Patrice Gumbs indicating that all submissions received under the most recent solid waste tender process failed to meet the necessary requirements. To date, no public explanation has been issued detailing the specific deficiencies in the bids submitted by the haulers.

Government’s decision to extend the existing contracts is therefore being viewed as a continuity measure while the ministry works toward a new procurement exercise for garbage collection services.

In Parliament, Minister Gumbs said 17 bids had been received under the solid waste tender, with 11 excluded during evaluation for procedural failures and the remaining six disqualified for not meeting the terms of reference. He maintained that the breakdown of the process was caused by failures on the part of the bidders rather than government, and said the contracts will now have to be retendered.

The minister also stated that legal advice had been sought once issues were identified, and disclosed that a third party was engaged to review how the initial tender process failed. He further said the garbage issue predates his tenure, referenced concerns raised in the Ombudsman’s report about past handling of the process, and noted that government had been working on an interim arrangement to ensure uninterrupted service while a new tender is being prepared.

‍