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Tudela extends period for junk cars’ collection
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Posted on Oct 25 2006
The Saipan Mayor’s Office has extended for another 30 days its collection of some 300 junk cars in the CNMI.
Mayor Juan B. Tudela said his office, Maeda Pacific, and Basula Produkto have already completed the pickup of some 300 junk cars but he asked for an extension so the contractor could pick up some more.
Basula Produkto president Eric Cruz earlier said the cars have already been picked up and sent to their recycling partner in Taiwan. Cruz had said his company aims to complete the project by the end of this month.
MAEDA Pacific and Basula Produkto resumed the collection of junk cars all over the island last month after the project was stalled in July due to lack of funding. The Saipan Mayor’s Office revived the project in August after awarding the new contract to MAEDA Pacific, in partnership with Basula Produkto.
The contract, however, is only limited to the pickup of some 300 junk cars as the Legislature only appropriated $30,000 for the project, which means only a fraction of the estimated 18,000 junk cars all over the island would be collected and disposed of.
The project was originally delayed following a bidder’s failure to meet the final requirement, followed by the realization that quotations from bidders during the second bidding did not meet the actual budget.
Last year, the Legislature appropriated at least $30,000 to the Saipan Mayor’s Office to help solve the problem. The money, according to the mayor, would also be used to fund the repair of its 12-year-old old boom truck.
The Saipan Mayor’s Office first released its bid bulletin for the project in February but due to lack of necessary documents the awarding of the bid was forfeited.
There are an estimated 18,000 junk cars scattered all over the island, according to the Beautify CNMI!’s subcommittee on junk goods. Most of them are on private lots, auto shops, and other places.
