Cut off from heat supply, City Hall will be left twisting in the wind

In the height of winter, the Chisinau City Hall will be disconnected from the heat supply on December 10 and will be “left twisting in the wind”. The technical director of Termocom SA Vladimir Babici and the head of municipal police, Vice Commissioner of Chisinau Municipality Iacob Gumenita made such statements at Monday’s meeting of the City Hall. According to Babici, in response to the Chisinau Municipal Council’s decision to cancel the heating charge made last week, Termocom will start cutting off the municipal housing sector from the heat supply on Monday. The Chisinau City Hall is the first on the list. The City Hall will be on a shaky ground if it will not coordinate its actions with the municipal police. Vice Commissioner Iacob Gumenita said this when Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca asked him about the steps, which he described as illegal, taken by the police last night to take down the Christmas Tree. The tree was set up by the local authorities in the Great National Assembly on Sunday after the Mayor of Chisinau signed an ordinance on December 7 and handed it personally to Constantin Avornic, head of the Patrol and Sentinel Regiment “Scut” (“Shield”). According to the Mayor, the draft ordinance was discussed at Friday’s meeting, which was also attended by Iacob Gumenita. The Vice Commissioner denies such a fact, saying that the meeting addressed only the decoration of the trees that grow in the back of the Triumphal Arch. He also said that he does not bear responsibility for the event because the Mayor did not coordinate his actions with the police. According to Gumenita, if such a situation recurs, the City Hall will someday remain “twisting in the wind”. On the night from Sunday to Monday, the tree was removed from the Square and installed in the back of the Triumphal Arch. The Mayor says that three young men of the youth organisation of the Liberal Party remained to guard the tree overnight in his personal car. The police know very well the registration plates on his car. Chirtoaca said that he intuited what the police can do because the central authorities warned the City Hall not to set up a fir tree for the Christmas holidays observed according to the standard calendar. At City Hall’s meeting, Petru Apostol, one of the young men that were detained by the police, said that at midnight they were forced by police officers to get out of the car. The police confiscated their video and photo cameras and drove them along streets in Chisinau for two hours without telling them for what reason. Afterwards, the three men were brought back to the Square. The police officers gave them the cameras back, but erased the images filmed by them. When back, the young men saw that the tree was moved to the back of the Triumphal Arch. Petru Apostol said that in such conditions the youth do not see any reason for remaining in the country, but, at the same time, they gained strength. Iacob Gumenita admitted that the police were involved in the activities from the previous night, but said that according to his information, the tree was transferred by the municipal service Green Spaces. The head of the Green Spaces service Eliferie Haruta was quick to refute the assertion. When the Mayor instructed the City Hall’s services to reinstall the tree and handed the relevant ordinance to the Vice Commissioner, Iacob Gumenita said that he will comply and will order that the tree is guarded. He also said that he will investigate whether the tree was cut legally. At the meeting, the Mayor General criticised the Motorsanitation Division for cleaning the place where the Christmas Tree stood, at the request of the police, as in the case with the president’s car. Dorin Chirtoaca said that the Motorsanitation Division, as well as the municipal police, must comply with the orders of the local authorities or at least inform the mayor about the instructions of the police. The Mayor described the given actions as “a gift made by the central authorities to the Chisinau residents on the International Human Rights Day”, which is celebrated on December 10. According to him, the three young men have been hostages of the government that does what it wants. Referring to the intentions of Termocom SA, the mayor said that the company has contractual obligations with all the beneficiaries and it must supply heat no matter what the tariff is. He said that in such a situation, Termocom should provide justifications for a new tariff to the City Council. Vladimir Babici replied that they will accept responsibility in accordance with the contractual stipulations and will act in compliance with the current financial situation of the company. The Mayor said that if Termocom SA stops supplying heat, the City Hall will sue it.