More than 60 events that were to be held to celebrate “Martsishor” were canceled owing to the situation in Ukraine and the need to manage the inflow of Ukrainian refugees. In a symbolic way, the pedestrian street in Chisinau was decorated with martsishors, mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban stated in a news conference.
According to the mayor, the municipality of Chisinau has to deal with 90% of the pressure faced due to the refugee crisis. The City Hall identified over 17,000 accommodation places and more than 8,000 of these were outfitted with beds, bedclothes, hot water, showers and bathtubs.
The accommodation capacity of “Moldexpo” Center was increased to 600 places. As from today, the refugees who come to the center will stay there for 24 hours and will be then referred to placement centers, rest camps and dorms in Chisinau.
They mayor said they need over 3,400 mattresses or sleeping bags, over 4,000 bedding sets and also pillows and blankets, bio toilets, shower cubicles, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines. The refugees need warm lunches, towels, soap and toilet paper.
The City Hall asked the police to extensively become involved in the management of the refugee crisis and to prevent conflict situations.
As from March 1, PCR tests for COVID-19 will be done at “Moldexpo” besides rapid tests. There is a bus nearby and those who want can get vaccinated against COVID-19 there.
