Casablanca's Urban Cleanliness Contracts Finalized
During a recent ordinary session of the Casablanca municipal council, led by Mayor Nabila Rmili, significant developments occurred regarding the urban cleanliness management of the city. The council has officially designated the companies Arma and SOS for the management of cleanliness across three major geographical sectors of the metropolis, while the allocation for a third zone remains stalled due to financial offers deemed insufficient. This new contract marks a shift in the city's approach, characterized by the exclusion of previous contractors such as Averda and the Chinese consortium JSYH. Additionally, the new terms impose stricter requirements regarding equipment and oversight, which has elevated the annual budget beyond the initial projections of 1.3 billion dirhams.
Details of the Contract Awarding Process
As reported by the daily newspaper _Al Ahdath Al Maghribia_, the Casablanca city council has nearly finalized the results from the tender concerning the delegated management of urban cleanliness in the economic capital. The awarded companies have been identified for three out of four geographic zones, with the status of the third zone still pending. The Arma group has notably excelled in the bidding process, securing contracts for both the first and second zones. The first zone encompasses the districts of Anfa, El Fida, and Mers Sultan, which alone represents 35% of the total budget allocated for urban cleanliness, amounting to 41 billion centimes. Similarly, Arma has won the second zone, which includes Aïn Chock and Hay Hassani, for a contract worth 29 billion centimes, thereby strengthening its sectoral presence within the city.
The fourth zone, covering Aïn Sebaâ, Hay Mohammadi, Sidi Bernoussi, and Sidi Moumen, has been awarded to SOS for the same amount of 29 billion centimes. This company is tasked with managing waste collection and cleaning public roads and spaces in these densely populated neighborhoods. Conversely, the evaluation committee could not reach a decision regarding the third zone, which includes Sidi Othmane, Moulay Rachid, Ben M’sik, and Sbata, valued at 23 billion centimes. The bid opening revealed complexities surrounding the financial offers as the competing companies' proposals did not align with the requirements outlined in the tender specifications, preventing the award of the contract to any bidder in this zone.
The overall value of these contracts exceeds initial expectations. While the municipality aimed to reduce the annual cost to between 1.2 and 1.3 billion dirhams compared to the previous contract period from 2019 to 2026, the current offers have surpassed the 1.3 billion dirham ceiling for the contract duration extending from 2026 to 2033. This significant increase in financial offers is attributed directly to the newly introduced provisions in the specifications created by the Casablanca municipality, which impose substantial additional commitments relative to previous agreements. These include the mobilization of human resources, the required number of vehicles and logistical equipment, as well as enhanced quality, control, and monitoring criteria for the services provided.
The new specifications notably emphasize the enhancement of the fleet of vehicles, trucks, and equipment dedicated to waste collection, an accelerated pace of manual and mechanical street sweeping, and an overall improvement in cleanliness levels on major roadways, in public markets, and within densely populated residential areas.
The list of primary competitors included Arma, Mecomar, SOS NDD, and Averda, alongside the Chinese group JSYH. The pre-selection phase led to the elimination of several major candidates. Averda was excluded early on due to non-compliance with mandatory conditions of the specifications, particularly regarding the submission of required financial statements for the years 2024 and 2025. Furthermore, the Chinese consortium JSYH was disqualified later in the process following technical evaluation.
As reported by fr.le360.ma.
