October 23, 2019
Government will buy Cintri to solve trash crisis: PM
Prime Minister HE yesterday announced the government will acquire and manage Cintri (Cambodia), the private company contracted to collect and dispose of waste in the capital.

Speaking during a graduation ceremony at Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Centre, Mr HE said the biggest problems in the capital are the mounting piles of trash, traffic jams and a lack of parking.

He asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Phnom Penh City Hall to work with Cintri on the acquisition, adding that the government must purchase and manage the company to provide a better and more efficient service.

He said that, under government management, the company will not lose money.

“I think Cintri will not argue with this decision,” Mr HE said. “We signed a contract with Cintri, allowing them to operate and collect waste, in 1996 or 1997 – more than 20 years ago. Back then the city only generated around 500 tonnes of waste per day but now it is up to 3,000 tonnes per day because the city has expanded so fast.”

“We will buy Cintri. Then we will start collecting the waste in the city,” he said.Mr HE said the government will eventually divide the city into several collection zones, assigning one waste collection company to each. A total of four companies will be chosen through public bidding to provide waste collection services, he said, warning of the need for the bidding process to be transparent.
Cintri has struggled to properly manage waste disposal in the capital for several years as its population grows. KT/Chor Sokunthea

“We cannot allow Cintri alone to provide waste collection services anymore. With only one company in charge of this task, when the company is not working or its workers are on holiday, uncollected rubbish piles up.

“We must acquire Cintri and all its equipment and City Hall can manage it. After the acquisition, we will manage all Cintri’s staff. Then, we will start to prepare the new zones and allow other companies to join the bidding process to collect the waste and clean the city. We will do it zone by zone.”

Cintri has 2,300 employees.

The prime minister said the government has opened four new landfill sites at Kean Svay and Ang Snoul districts, which have yet to be put into operation.

The premier also said the government will subsidise any investment on waste-to-energy (WTE) from the private sector so long as it uses local waste. He said using imported waste to generate energy is not allowed.

“Although the cost of generating energy from waste is a bit high, the government will not hesitate to offer subsidies. If we do not do this, we will be flooded by rubbish in the future,” the prime minister said.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50653397/g ... cintri-pm/

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:55 am
“We will buy Cintri. Then we will start collecting the waste in the city,” he said.Mr HE said the government will eventually divide the city into several collection zones, assigning one waste collection company to each. A total of four companies will be chosen through public bidding to provide waste collection services, he said, warning of the need for the bidding process to be transparent.
Cintri has struggled to properly manage waste disposal in the capital for several years as its population grows. KT/Chor Sokunthea

“We cannot allow Cintri alone to provide waste collection services anymore. With only one company in charge of this task, when the company is not working or its workers are on holiday, uncollected rubbish piles up.

“We must acquire Cintri and all its equipment and City Hall can manage it. After the acquisition, we will manage all Cintri’s staff. Then, we will start to prepare the new zones and allow other companies to join the bidding process to collect the waste and clean the city. We will do it zone by zone.”

Why is it necessary to nationalise Cintri? Why not just create these city collection zones and allow bids for the collection?

It seems like an unnecessary step unless buying it before allowing competitors to bid for zones means they can squeeze every last drop of worth from them.

This article
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/the-ca ... hs-garbage
From 2014 seems to suggest City Hall has been looking to open up the garbage collection to competition for some time.
The article reports on a secret back room deal originally for Cintri? Really, that does surprise me.

“Over the past couple years, there’s been a lot of back and forth between CINTRI and city hall about who’s not doing their job,” says Jon Morales, a program manager at The Asia Foundation. “But there hasn’t been a lot of people taking an objective look at the entire system and seeing what can be done to improve it.”

Hardly surprising when vacancies are being filled by close friends, family, and the highest bidder. And the culture of not being able to say to those in higher authority “here’s a better way to do it” since telling your boss they’re doing it wrong would be a major faux pas.