The small Archis commune in Arad county, Western Romania, may be one of the cleanest places in the country, as mayor Nicolae Valea has bought 760 street garbage bins from a Romanian company, reports local News.ro. The commune has only 1,500 inhabitants and 640 households.

The local authorities were to pay RON 678,000 (EUR 174,000) for the garbage bins, including the necessary accessories such as pillars and gripping systems, which means that each street bin had a cost of over RON 800 (EUR 175). On the Internet, similar products cost between RON 130 and RON 200 (EUR 28 – 43).

If one could find an explanation for the large number of very expensive garbage bins, then maybe the fact that the value of the contract is three times commune’s revenues in 2017 may raise some questions. Moreover, the authorities didn’t organize any public auction for this contract.

The supplier, CCFRSA Marfa SRL in Bucharest, received the order only verbally, reports News.ro. The garbage bins were delivered between 2013 and 2015, but the City Hall only partially paid one of the three invoices issued for this order. The company thus sued the City Hall for the remaining RON 470,000 that hadn't been paid, and won the lawsuit in 2016.

Most recently, a bailiff ordered the Archis City Hall to enforce the sentence. However, as the Municipality failed to pay the rest of the money, the forced execution procedures began. The City Hall should pay even more money now, as the amount also includes interest, penalties, court costs, and the forced execution procedures. This represents a huge problem for the small commune.

According to News.ro, the inhabitants are not happy with the City Hall’s decision to buy so many garbage bins. There are only a few streets in the four villages forming the commune, with a total length of less than 20 kilometers. There are garbage bins at every 100 meters, or even closer. However, more than half of the total street bins purchased by the City Hall have not even been installed yet.

The mayor hasn't been able to justify the acquisition, but admitted to buying too many garbage bins. He said that wanted to return half of the bins but the supplier refused to take them back.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com