The Office of the Inspector General of the City of Montreal (BIG) recommends that the municipal administration strengthen control over the elimination of asphalt and concrete waste produced on construction sites, after the discovery of illegal dumping on land. private this year. The organization emphasizes, however, that in general, construction site supervision has improved in the metropolis.
The BIG’s annual report, submitted Monday to the Municipal Council, reports the discovery of two private lands in an industrial environment where a contractor illegally dumped waste produced on a municipal site, during road and sidewalk demolition work.
“The Bureau found after the fact that a total of 78 tractor-trailer trips were dumped there,” states the report, which does not identify the original site or the contractor involved.
“The Ministry of the Environment has been notified of the situation, as has the business unit responsible for the site,” the document continues. The OIG emphasizes that City officials reminded its teams that the elimination of residual granular materials must be subject to “tight” control.
In its report, the OIG makes some recommendations to the municipal administration to improve control, in particular to promote the stability of the personnel assigned to the supervision of the work and to establish a procedure to obtain approval in advance of the place of disposal asphalt and concrete residue.
Vigilant supervisors
Several past OIG reports have highlighted deficiencies in the supervision of municipal construction sites, but generally speaking, the situation has greatly improved today, the report continues.
“The team, which visited construction sites in 2023, noted a great improvement in the quality, presence and vigilance of the supervisory staff. Supervisors and materials control technicians were present at all times with the exception of three inconsequential situations, which represented 4% of visits. The latter demonstrated a good knowledge of site operations and quote requirements,” the document specifies.
The annual report marks the end of the mandate of Inspector General Brigitte Bishop, who has been in office for almost six years.
“During my appointment as Inspector General, I guaranteed to make the OIG a respected organization and a reference in terms of contractual integrity, particularly in the eyes of the Montreal population, contributor to the realization of billions of municipal contract dollars. I can say today that I accomplished my mission,” she wrote.
The Press revealed on Friday that the head of investigations at the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), Me François Lanthier was chosen to head the BIG following a selection process which evaluated several candidates. The city council is scheduled to vote on the choice this week.