Minister of Local Government, Desmond McKenzie has said the global spread of Covid-19 is not at the moment a concern for the company contracted to import 120 new garbage trucks for use by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
The state agency is to receive the first fleet of 20 new trucks in May.
McKenzie, who was addressing last Tuesday’s sitting of the Standing Finance Committee in parliament, said that procurement of the remaining 100 trucks has been approved by the Public Investment Management Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
“We just got the approval for those and the [acquisition] process will commence. We are expecting those 100 trucks to be in the island next year around this time,” he noted.
However, responding to concerns about how the outbreak of COVID-19 will affect the time line for the arrival of the units, McKenzie advised that based on discussions with the entity contracted to supply the vehicles “they have not indicated any area of concern.”
He said he will direct the NSWMA to engage in further dialogue with the supplier.
The outbreak, which began in China last December and has since spread to some 70 additional countries, has significantly curtailed global manufacturing, production and exports due to the closure of several factories, especially in China. These include establishments involved in automobile assembly and distribution.
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