A new street sweeper vehicle will be purchased for MDL 1.8 mln, in compliance with the Chisinau Municipal Council’s decision of May 3. According to Eugenia Ciumac, chair of the municipal Accounting Division, purchases of specialised vehicles will help the municipality to keep the streets of the city clean and in a good condition. The streetsweeper will be bought at the request of the “Exdrupo” Road & Bridge Management Agency. Currently, the agency operates 8 specialised vehicles that allow the sanitation of only 20% of the managed territory. Those 20 snowploughs worth MDL 40 mln, bought by the municipality in late 2006 and strongly criticised by a number of councillors for their low performance in snow clearing, were also employed in street sweeping works. Earlier, sources within the City Hall said that the municipality planned to purchase up to 60 units of snowploughs and street sweepers from western companies. At present, only 500 persons are engaged in cleanup activities out of 1150 needed. However, the municipality insists that once the mechanised street sweepers are bought, additional personnel will no longer be needed.