Torreón Municipality evaluates granting concessions for services

The Municipality of Torreón is exploring the possibility of granting concessions for various services with the goal of improving their quality and ensuring efficient oversight by the authorities.

Luis Jorge Cuerda Serna, the City Council's first alderman, said that the process for granting these services has taken its first step with approval by the City Council, where the corresponding procedures have begun. The concessions committee, composed of various members in accordance with regulations, must then be established. Subsequently, each area will analyze the technical and economic aspects before the proposals are reviewed by committees, the City Council, and finally, Congress.

Among the services that could be awarded are the municipal slaughterhouse, the vehicle inspection centers, the waste collection service, and the wastewater treatment plant.

Cuerda Serna emphasized the importance of establishing clear operating rules so that citizens receive the best possible service at the lowest cost.

He also emphasized that these processes will set fundamental precedents for Torreón's development in the coming years, guaranteeing periodic reviews to ensure that contracts adapt to the city's changing needs.

"We don't want what happened in the past to happen again, when some contracts became obsolete over time," he said, citing the garbage collection issue with the company Promotora Ambiental SA (PASA) as an example.

The council member added that each service will have its own implementation and development timeframe, with some processes taking longer than others. He indicated that the municipal administration will continue working to implement these concessions in accordance with established procedures.

Specifically regarding the Vehicle Inspection Centers, Marcelo Sánchez Adame, Director of the Environment, explained that a concession scheme is being developed to expand their service capacity and ensure that more units comply with current environmental regulations.

He mentioned that the goal is to achieve sufficient capacity to serve not only vehicles registered in Torreón, but also those from neighboring municipalities such as Gómez Palacio, Lerdo, Matamoros, and Chávez. Currently, the centers perform around 100 inspections daily, but the goal is to increase this figure to between 300 and 500 inspections per day. This will increase capacity and reach the goal of 350,000 inspected vehicles.

In operational terms, he emphasized that the municipality already has trained personnel, so the challenge lies in the ongoing regulation of the verification centers that will be awarded concessions. The scheme will operate under a competitive process in which interested parties must submit proposals that guarantee efficiency and quality of service.

The director emphasized that vehicle inspection regulations are already established at the federal level, so the current effort is focused on raising awareness among citizens, businesses, and public transportation about the importance of environmental compliance.

He also mentioned that the public transportation sector will face changes in the second half of the year regarding emissions verification, which will increase demand for the service.