The permissive documents issued for erecting a building set down the urban parameters that construction companies must comply with, while the public authorities have the responsibility to monitor how these parameters are respected during the execution of works. Lawyer Artur Macovei, who defends the interests of the dwellers of the block located at 5 Decebal Blvd in Chisinau, said the problems encountered by the dwellers are the result of noncompliance with urban planning norms and the lack of reaction from the competent authorities.

In a news conference hosted by IPN, Artur Macovei said that in 2019, the Chisinau City Hall issued an urban planning certificate to a company for the construction of a residential building in the vicinity of the block situated at 5 Decebal Blvd. The certificate specifies the conditions that the construction company must comply with, like ensuring that the windows of the future block are not be face to face with those of the adjoining block. Likewise, it is specified that the building cannot occupy more than 25-35% of the land area, and the coefficient of land use must not be higher than 1-1.5.

“Everything was fine until this future construction site was fenced off. When the mayor asked the Architecture Department for explanations as to what was done for this future building site, an informative note signed by chief architect Svetlana Dogotaru was presented, which says that the documentation that was presented by this economic agent contains the 25-35% indices and a coefficient of 1.4, but there is no certainty that these were calculated according to the regulations and that they correspond to the real values,” said the lawyer.

According to him, the chief architect, not the dwellers, was to do all the calculations to determine whether the urban indices were respected. The calculations of an independent architect show that the future block occupies 56% of the land, not 25-35% as it is required. “If the City Hall allows your neighbor to build only one floor at a distance of about 10 meters from your border and this starts building 10-15 floors, right next to your wall, you will understand how important it is to comply with these urban indices. And how important it is for the authority that imposed these conditions to ensure that the project meets the requirements," said Artur Macovei.

Galina Albot, head of the dwellers’ association, said that life can be changed in a moment. On June 26, 2020, they woke up and saw that neighbors came to demolish the annex of the building. The dwellers got scared and didn’t understand what was happening. Mothers with children thought it was an earthquake. By that moment, they lived in peace.

Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider that they were targeted in the articles produced based on the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.