News that recent bids for solid waste management were all disqualified (see last Thursday’s edition) raises questions. Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Nature VROMI Patrice Gumbs told Parliament this means government has to retain the related contracts, and it has nothing to do with the lack of an approved 2026 budget.
He said the contracting team was working on an interim arrangement for three months. Hopefully, that’s enough time, because the minister mentioned the involvement of a third party to review the tendering process.
Of the 17 bids, 11 were already excluded for failure to follow the established procedures. That left six, which did not comply with the terms of reference.
Some might wonder whether the requirements were not too difficult to meet. When announcing the tender in January, Gumbs spoke of new “comprehensive” three-year contracts entailing responsibility for managing waste infrastructure, including upkeep of collective collection sites, removal of stray garbage along main roads, placement and management of collection bins and public communication regarding pickup schedules.
As pointed out in this column on February 6, there were also notably large gaps between the lowest and highest submitted offers for all six parcels. It will be interesting to see what an evaluation produces.
Meanwhile, concern has been expressed about the district cleaning contracts too. Member of Parliament (MP) for Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) Lyndon Lewis said the current versions run out on March 31 without a public bidding process in place.
The minister explained that the scope of the work is being restructured to improve efficiency. During an interim period, these services will be handled by the team, using government rates at which contractors previously used and current district cleaning companies can be engaged. In the first month, they will focus on priority areas like main roads, public beaches, cemeteries and public schools.
All this must go smoothly, because the last thing St. Maarten needs is to be known as a dirty destination.
CLARIFICATION
Friday’s editorial titled “Some explaining to do” about the lack of public funds for St. Maarten to participate in the upcoming CARIFTA Games was written Thursday evening before the front page story with an explanation by Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports EYCS Melissa Gumbs came in, and the column’s author remained unaware of such. “The Daily Herald” apologises for any inconvenience this might have caused.
