“Our country will be really prosperous only when the change for the better is felt in each village and town. In each locality the people expect concrete results from those who they elected to manage their community. Such results can be offered only by efficient local public authorities,” President Maia Sandu stated in the General Assembly of Local Public Authorities held on the occasion of the Day of Local Autonomy and Local Public Administration Worker that is celebrated today, IPN reports.

“In each locality, the people need two important things: well-paid jobs and public services of a high quality. Beyond the large towns, we have few settlements that managed to ensure jobs by developing businesses,” said President Sandu. The conditions are different from locality to locality. “Some of them are geographically located more advantageously than others. Also, the economy of scale makes the difference. But jobs and conditions for economic development are needed in all of them. No matter how hard it is, we must make sure that the job creation objective is achieved in each locality in the country,” noted Maia Sandu.

“To improve public services, we need first of all to embrace information technology. Secondly, we must make investments to modernize infrastructure,” said the official, noting that the Government launched service provision centers in a number of settlements and this experience should be swiftly replicated.

For the local public administration to become more efficient, Maia Sandu proposed ensuring equitable access to sources offered by the state. The Government announced the constitution of a local development fund that is designed to ensure correct assistance for local development based on very clear criteria and on transparent mechanisms for choosing the most competitive projects proposed by the local public authorities. “Decentralization should be accompanied by the improvement of the capacities as all the things are done for the benefit of citizens”.

Maia Sandu urged the representatives of the local public administration to efficiently take the foreign financing opportunities.

The stopping of abusive inspections is another subject raised by President Sandu. She said the reform initiated by the Government together with Parliaments to clear the law enforcement agencies of elements that committed abuses will help improve the situation in the field. “When we speak about the fight against corruption, we must realize that corruption should be rooted out at all the levels, including the local one, as the legalities will be punished no matter where they are committed,” said Maia Sandu.

The General Assembly of Local Public Authorities was staged by the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova in partnership with the senior administration.