City checks hauler’s contract; exec says rental seems okay

THE Cebu City Government will revisit its contract with the supplier of heavy equipment used in hauling garbage from the Inayawan sanitary landfill to the town of Consolacion.

This, after landfill manager Randy Navarro said the City is being shortchanged by Armed Builders and Supply.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said Navarro’s allegation and his suggestion to pay Armed Builders on a per trip basis will be looked into.

But he said the rental of Armed Builders’ heavy equipment is lower than that of the Association of Contractors Equipment Lessor (Acel), another supplier of heavy equipment.

He said City Hall rents Acel’s payloader at P4,413 per hour, P3,804 per hour for backhoes, and P1,716 per hour for 10-wheeler dump trucks.

No overpayment

On this basis alone, he said, there is no overpayment to Armed Builders, whose dump trucks are being leased by City Hall at P3,998.37 a day.

The City rents 15 10-wheeler dump trucks, one backhoe and one payloader from Armed Builders to haul garbage from the transfer station at Inayawan to a private sanitary landfill in Consolacion.

At P3,998.37 for each of the 17 equipment, the City owes Armed Builders about P2 million in rent every month.

“Billings of the contract had been scrutinized and certified by the Department of Public Services in terms of actual equipment utilized, as well as the number of days being served. The same passed audit scrutiny by the City Accounting Office,” Poblete said.

Navarro said Armed Builders’ equipment sometimes make only one or two trips a day instead of three.

Trips

But Poblete said it is not accurate to say that each equipment of Armed Builders is required to make three trips a day. He said the contract with the supplier merely stated that Armed Builders should ensure that the equipment is available 24 hours.

Poblete said Navarro’s task involves making the most use of the Armed Builders’ equipment.

The City administrator agreed with Navarro, though, that the truck ban in Mandaue City prevents the garbage-hauling trucks from making more trips.

Big trucks are allowed to pass Mandaue only between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The City’s one-year contract with Armed Builders became effective last January.