Unhappy with garbage collection efforts

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This letter appeared in the Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) on 15 October 2005.

This item may be cited as M. R. Franks, Letter to the Editor: Unhappy with garbage collection efforts, Baton Rouge Advocate, October 15, 2005, at 11B.

Dear Editor:

Kudos to the tireless employees of Entergy, BellSouth and Cox who worked around the clock seven days a week to restore service. Less praise, however, is earned by BFI, the garbage people.

If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, Allied Waste Services (BFI) yawns while rats multiply. The millions our parish spends each year on rodent control is for naught with Allied in charge of feeding the rats.

The problem is parishwide: Garbage is not collected as scheduled. Calls to Allied Waste Services (BFI) are met with promises that the garbage will be collected. More days pass, but the promises are not kept. It seems that the manager is never in and that he does not return phone calls.

This is a time when other utilities are redoubling their efforts and bringing in work crews from distant states. In contrast, Allied Waste Services, a nationwide corporation fully capable of doing likewise, has shown only feeble efforts and callous indifference to the health and safety of Baton Rougeans.

It is time for our mayor-president and council to end Allied's lucrative contract and to award the task to a company better able to do its job in time of crisis.

Maurice Franks, President
Comite Drive Property Owners Assn.
8364 Comite Drive
Baton Rouge

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