Ganja resident asks prosecutor general to sort out special clothes for housing maintenance organizations

Baku/30.01.23/Turan: Every day we see cleaning men and women in the streets of Azerbaijani cities doing hard work not in uniform, sometimes with yellow waistcoats over their clothes. There are no protective helmets, special boots, let alone waterproof bright overalls on the cleaners.

The same situation is in Ganja, where street cleaners are dressed in whatever way they like. An active citizen and independent investigator, Orkhan Ismailov became concerned about this. In a letter to Turan he informed about an enquiry to the General Prosecutor's Office of the country, which asked to find out the reason why the cleaners were not wearing special clothes they were supposed to wear.

Ismailov sent a copy of the previous letter to the Prosecutor General's Office to the editorial office, accompanied by screenshots of electronic announcements of bids and requests.

On the Facebook page of the Ganja Housing and Communal Production Association ("Gəncə MKTİB") he expressed outrage at the inappropriate cold weather clothing of cleaners.  In response Ismayilov received a threat from Gəncə MKTİB that he would deal with law enforcement agencies of the city.  Orkhan Ismayilov's access to the page of the state software was blocked. Then Orhan opened the portal www.etender.gov.az and sent a request and viewed tenders held by "Gəncə MKTİB".

The information about tenders says that "Gəncə MKTİB" held three tenders for purchase of special clothes for cleaners starting from 2020. Tenders were held on 31.12.2020, 31.03.2022 and 31.12.2022, two of which were won by "LK Machinery" MMC and one by "Abşeron Tekstil" MMC.

Ismailov found that the VÖEN, i.e. tax code of both companies is the same - 1503554731.  In the portal of the Tax Service of the Ministry of Economy, when asked about the owner of VÖEN 1503554731, a message indicates "Abşeron Tekstil" MMC, while in the tender documents the same code belongs to two companies, as well as the legal address, legal representative and other information are the same for the two firms.

List of workwear items purchased through tendering (in units):

630 sets of workwear (jackets, jacket, trousers);

1050 waistcoats;

485 gowns;

500 pairs of boots;

800 pairs of boots;

830 overalls;

950 mackintoshes;

1,050 pairs of rubber boots;

1400 special uniforms;

950 dressing gowns;

16800 pairs of mittens.

The second question is about the amounts paid for the workwear. Accordingly, "Gəncə MKTİB" has paid 284757.60 AZN, 316862.57 AZN and 105521.5 AZN to the winning companies, totaling 707141.67 AZN. This amount was sent to the account of one company represented by two names.

Ismailov also asked "Gəncə MKTİB" to answer the question about the number of cleaners in the city. The response said that "Gəncə MKTİB" employs 1,642 people, including 42 managers, 746 cleaners, 341 workers and further drivers, engineers, technicians, etc.

When comparing the figures of purchased clothing and the number of employees of "Gəncə MKTİB", it can be seen that the entire staff should be equipped with a large stock of clothing. 

Ismailov said in a letter to the General Prosecutor's Office he has not seen such clothes on cleaners in the city. At the reception by the deputy head of PO Orkhan asked the reason why the cleaners were using their personal clothes in their work and offered to check the "Gəncə MKTİB" warehouse together. There was no answer.

Orkhan Ismayilov asks the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate the issue and the use of protective clothing by "Gəncə MKTİB".