Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt., Ltd., which bagged a seven-year contract to lift and manage solid waste in Mangaluru, is planning to approach the Karnataka High Court seeking appointment of an arbitrator to resolve its grievances with the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC).
Though the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner is the arbitrator appointed under the contract, Antony Waste’s three applications under the Arbitration Act, the latest being two months ago, have not been considered, said the contractor’s legal adviser, Vivekananda Paniyal.
The company may ask the court to appoint a retired High Court or district judge as the arbitrator.
“We did not come through the back door but through a global tender, ratified by the MCC Council and approved by the State government. Owing to the MCC’s inability to handle solid waste, it invited experts in the field. We invested close to ₹40 crore on infrastructure and other aspects before starting work,” Mr. Paniyal told The Hindu.
Instead of treating the private partner with dignity, MCC has pushed Antony Waste to the brink with randomly deducted and delayed payments of monthly bills without assigning any reasons, he said.
While the average monthly bill would be about ₹3.5 crore, average payments would be around ₹2 crore and MCC does not cite any contractual clause to impose penalty, Mr. Paniyal said.
Dedications have been unilateral without hearing the company and 10 notices under the contract to MCC have remained unanswered, Mr. Paniyal said.
Like many other cities, garbage mafia appears to be thriving in Mangaluru too, which is simmering with discontent ever since the PPP partner came in, he alleged. The seven-year contract being a concession agreement should have been administered by a team of experts in MCC, he claimed. “Antony Waste has become the victim of MCC’s fiscal indiscipline.” Mr. Paniyal said he was not blaming any individual officers; but the system.
Deputy Commissioner S. Sasikanth Senthil said he will look into the issue [arbitration notice].
