City hall back tracks on garbage trucks

From the sidelines

If it wasn’t so serious we could call Panama City Mayor Bosco Vallarino’s garbage ventures a soap opera. 
But when the Ministry of Health puts the city on alert and restaurant owners are bribing workers to pick up garbage because the smell is driving customers away, it’s more than TV drama.
Bosco has become the butt of jokes and a prime target of political cartoonists.
Now the mayor has abandoned his efforts to spend millions of dollars to directly purchase 51 garbage trucks, and instead will solicit bids for the vehicles.
He had received permission from the Municipal Council to purchase the trucks, but faced intense criticism over the decision from a number of sectors, including the Comptroller’s Office, Government ministers, the country’s vice president, and, without Bosco’s name being expressly mentioned, from the President..
The decision to halt the direct purchase was made Tuesday after a closed meeting of the Municipal Council. Although the item was not on the agenda, it was clear says La Prensa that it was being discussed as the board went into a closed session as soon as members arrived.
When they emerged 90 minutes later, Vallarino announced that the trucks would be purchased by an "express tender," which is an expedited bidding process.
Vallarino had previously argued that the trucks were needed immediately, which is why they would be purchased directly. However, the federal government approved a payment to the municipality that allowed it to hire private trucks for three months to help with garbage collection, thus making it difficult for the Mayor to argue that the trucks were needed immediately.{jathumbnail off}