The new urban cleaning and waste collection contract for Lleida has been provisionally halted after the administrative appeal filed by FCC before the Tribunal Català de Contractes. The challenge blocks, for now, the entry into force of the service scheduled for April 23 and forces the Paeria to find a solution to avoid a gap in the provision.
The municipal plenary had approved the awarding of the new concession last March 16. The contract, with a duration of ten years, is valued at 261 million euros, which represents a 60% increase compared to the current one. The successful bidder was the temporary union of companies Ilnet, formed by Romero Polo and Valoriza, which obtained a score of 90.1 out of 100 and surpassed FCC by four points.
The entry into force remains blocked
The deputy mayor Begoña Iglesias acknowledged that the suspension is "bad news" because the current contract "is very old and doesn't give any more of itself". The municipal official also defended that the awarding procedure has been "totally formalistic".
"We are legally analyzing how we can act faster with the mechanisms provided in the Public Sector Contracts Law, with full legal certainty" - Begoña Iglesias, deputy mayor
The paralysis prevents the new service from starting on the initially set date. Faced with this scenario, the Paeria is studying two options to guarantee the continuity of the service. On the one hand, approving a nine-month extension of the current contract. On the other, exploring the decree route.
A contract of higher amount and a difference of four points
The new concession was awarded to Ilnet, the temporary union of companies integrated by Romero Polo and Valoriza. Its offer obtained 90.1 points out of 100 in the tender, with a four-point advantage over FCC. That result was what the plenary ended up endorsing in March, before the non-awarded company presented the appeal before the Catalan contracting body.
The new contract significantly raises the cost of the service. The valuation amounts to 261 million euros, 60% more than the current contract, in a context of political debate about the state of cleanliness and waste collection in the city.
Criticisms of the opposition
The spokesperson for ERC, Jordina Freixanet, charged against the situation generated and linked the delay with the poor state of the current service.
"The people of Lleida already paid on the 7th the increase of a garbage fee for a service that is worse than in 2006, which is unacceptable" - Jordina Freixanet, spokesperson for ERC
While the Catalan Contracts Tribunal resolves the appeal, the City Council must decide what formula it will apply to sustain a service that the municipal government itself considers exhausted. The April 23rd date is, for now, ruled out and continuity will depend on the legal solution that the Paeria activates in the coming days.