Parliament adopted in the first reading a bill to enable local councils to include fruit growers’ associations in the composition of communities at the request of members. Bill author Valentina Buliga said in Parliament that about 15,000 families live within such associations and the urbanistic situation of communities worsens when the number of built houses increases, IPN reports.

The changes to the Land Code contained in the bill enable to modify the purpose of the land owned by fruit growers’ associations into land for constructions. The land purpose modification tax is paid by the owners.

Valentina Buliga said that that under the law on the local public administration, neither the local council nor the mayor have powers related to the activity of fruit growers’ associations even if all the given associations that existed at that time were transferred under the administration of the local public authorities by a Parliament decision of 1991.

Thus, the bill supplements the Land Code and the law on the local public administration and empowers mayors to modify the perimeter of settlements and the local councils to include the associations in the composition of the community at the request of most of the members, on condition that these are included in the general urbanistic plan of the settlement and the fruit growers’ associations are liquidated in accordance with the law.

For the second reading, the MPs asked to stipulate a mechanism by which the Government would provide financial support to the mayor’s offices that have fruit growers’ associations nearby so that the local authorities implement the general urbanistic plan. Another proposal is to create new settlements within the existing communities.