CMC allots land on which to build waste recycling plant

The Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) allocated a plot that is 10 hectares in area for building a waste recycling plant on. It is located near Uzinelor Street in Chisinau. The people living nearby oppose the decision, saying they are already affected by the industrial emissions from the wastewater treatment station and other plants working in the area, Info-Prim Neo reports. After long debates, the Council decided to allot the plot of land to the Italian company STR Engineering Consulting SRL and approved the agreement signed by Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca and the given company that will built the plant. There was also approved a timetable, according to which the feasibility study of the plant must be carried out within 10 months of the allocation of the land. The necessary construction authorizations and approvals of the environment bodies must be obtained within the same period. The plant is to be built during 20 months of the issuing of the construction authorizations and urbanism certificate. Councilor Oleg Cernei abstained from voting, arguing the Italian company does not have guarantees confirming its creditworthiness. There is no feasibility study showing that the plot should be 10 hectares, not 5 hectares in area. Councilman Valerii Klineko, of Ravnopravie Movement, shared Oleg Cernei's poison, stressing the given company does not have the necessary financing. “The banks refused to lend money to it and this thing tells a lot,” he said. However, he stressed that the municipality of Chisinau is badly in need of a waste recycling plant as the waste dump in Tantareni is in a critical condition. Mihail Garev, a member of the Communist faction in the Council, considers the agreement cannot be approved without a feasibility study. He said the waste processing process proposed by the Italians is outdated. “There are new technologies enabling obtaining profits as well,” he said. A Chisinau resident living in the area, Mihai Cibotaru, came to the meeting to express his dissatisfaction with the project. “We cannot endure anymore. We are sick as the air is very dirty. Nobody asked us if we agree with the building of the plant. Why can't they erect it outside the city?” he asked, adding the residents living nearby started to collect signatures against the construction.