Decentralization objective will be achieved during 4-5 years

The main pillars of decentralization that ensure functional local autonomy will be laid by the local elections of 2014, considers Mihai Roscovan, coordinator of the Joint Integrated Local Development Program, Info-Prim Neo reports. “It seems that the central public administration and the local public authorities realized that such reforms are very important for the people’s lives and the country’s integration into the European family,” the expert said in a program on the public TV channel “Moldova 1”. In the same program, Victoria Cujba, deputy head of the State Chancellor’s Decentralization Policies Division, said 4-5 years will be needed to implement the decentralization reform and obtain functional local autonomy. “There is no decentralization model or legislative framework in the world that could be fully borrowed by Moldova. But there are principles that must be respected. The people, regardless of the place where they live, must benefit from services of a high quality. Therefore, it is important to correlate the reform of the central public administration and that of the local public administration, giving some of the power to the local authorities and allocating money for them to be able to work. They money should be allotted according to the criterion of efficiency,” said Victoria Cujba. A series of studies on decentralization and financial autonomy, patrimony administration, territorial optimization and alternative models have been carried out with support from foreign donors within the Joint Integrated Local Development Program. Other studies are being made. The head of Stefan-Voda district Valeriu Beril said that these changes must be carried out in consultation with the people. Ion Stratulat, the mayor of Orhei town, said that the system of transferring money from the state budget to the local public authorities and the system of earning own incomes should be reviewed. He said the public-private partnerships are an efficient method of making money, but the number of required documents must be reduced and the procedure for launching such partnerships should be simplified. Launched in 2007, the Joint Integrated Local Development Program aims to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks and streamline local administrative procedures and systems. There is an emphasis on developing and implementing a framework for the effective delegation of authority to the local public authorities, fiscal decentralization to deliver essential services, and the promotion of a greater role for women in decision-making bodies. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency made a substantial contribution to the program.