KOCHI: The Corporation on Saturday decided to restore the agreement with the contractor for waste removal in the city, which should bring relief to residents unable to bear the stink of the rotten pile. During the last few days, waste transportation to Brahmapuram plant was disrupted following suspension of the Corporation agreement with the contractor over audit objections. The contractor stopped the service after the Corporation withheld payments following the termination of the agreement on March 24. Now, only 24 vehicles, including 17 vehicles of the Corporation, are used for waste removal in place of the previous 45.
Though an urgent meeting of the Corporation council discussed the matter, councillors could not reach a consensus. Replying to the debate, Mayor Soumini Jain said the corporation could either restore the contract till a new agreement was signed or rent out trucks at market rate. “If the contractor is ready to resume the service at the originally agreed rate of Rs 1,300-odd a day, the agreement can be restored for an interim period,” she said.
The Opposition was against restoring the agreement but left it to be resolved by the Mayor, opposition leader and health standing committee chairperson. Later, the trio decided to restore the contract for an interim period. It was also decided to recover the excess amount of Rs 1.26 crore given to two contractors. Health standing committee chairperson V.K. Minimol said the contractor had agreed to resume the service on Sunday.
