We Have the Same Problems as "Sanitek", but We Pay More for Waste Collection than We Paid to "Sanitek" - Khajakyan

For a considerable time now, waste collection has been virtually nonexistent in Yerevan. Every day, residents share photos of overflowing trash bins and litter strewn around them on their social media pages. This is reported by "Hraparak".

After removing "Sanitek", the city authorities did not attempt to understand the issues that the company faced, which were managerial in nature and related to urban infrastructure. Now, we can clearly say that the city is being managed worse than the private operator, simply because three years after the establishment of the EASM, we have the same problems as "Sanitek", yet we are paying more for waste collection than we were paying to "Sanitek" at the time,” former city council member David Khajakyan told "Hraparak".

He notes that the city authorities must urgently initiate an international competition to engage a new private operator capable of accurately assessing what equipment is needed and maintaining it properly. Otherwise, we will acquire new garbage trucks every year, just like in previous years: "The existing system that was created was a sick system, and it continues to be so... Because the garbage trucks travel on poor roads, enter inadequate dumps, are poorly maintained, they are turning into metal scrap, and this cannot last long; otherwise, we will continuously have to allocate additional funds from the budget," he warns.

The former council member emphasizes that the establishment must have reserves, but due to poor management, this issue will persist with both drivers and cleaning staff. "Ultimately, just a week ago, the mayor of Tbilisi announced the introduction of dozens of vacuum machines, while in Yerevan we have a scant few such machines, the rest is carried out with the resources of cleaners,” he said.

Acting head of the "Yerevan Waste Collection and Sanitary Cleaning Community Enterprise" Sas Ktavalyan also informed us that new garbage trucks will arrive in Yerevan in the coming days and be operational. "Our garbage trucks have been in operation for 5 years, in different cities garbage trucks are operated with one shift, while ours are overloaded, working both at night and during the day, driven by different drivers. It turns out we have been using these garbage trucks for 10 years," he noted.

Regarding the necessity of drivers and cleaners, he stated that the issue is seasonal: "Most of our workers are residents of rural areas, and due to the agricultural season, they go to work in their plots; we experience a labor shortage for about 2 months." When asked if the salary of 200,000 drams, including taxes and levies, might be a reason for the labor shortage, Sas Ktavalyan replied, "The salary comes to around 150,000 drams; excuse me, if our teachers' salary is 110,000 drams, then 150,000 for a cleaner is undoubtedly a reasonable salary."

- Why should a cleaner do less work than a teacher?

- A teacher raises generations.

- I value the work of cleaners; they clean the city; it cannot be belittled.

- I am not talking about belittling; for me, the highest title and profession is that of a teacher, which is why I used a teacher as an example. Let’s return to our issue: we announce that we need drivers, we do not employ friends but announce that we have such positions available.

- I just spoke on this topic with your former colleague David Khajakyan; he mentioned that the city authorities should initiate an international competition, and a new private company should come to handle cleaning in Yerevan, 5 billion has been allocated to the enterprise that cannot solve the problems, and it is poorly managed. What do you say to his words?

- That 5 billion figure is an old number mentioned by Mr. Khajakyan... We have the experience of "Sanitek", which simply shut down Yerevan; let’s not talk about "Sanitek"; it operated at a time when the company was new, the equipment was new, and it operated normally for 2 years, but when it was necessary to restore that equipment, "Sanitek" failed to do so, and Yerevan stood on the brink of collapse. Equipment is something that needs to be renewed regularly.