Representatives of civil society and transport experts seek the organization of public debates on the transport strategy in Chisinau municipality, which they consider a strategic document. They say the specifications for the strategy concept last yearend were approved not in transparent conditions and the contest announced to choose the company that was to work out the documentation was cancelled for the reason that only one bidder applied to take part. The contest rerun on May 16 also involved only one bidder.
In a news conference at IPN, civic activist Vitalie Voznoi, of “My Dear City” Association, said an event called by the authorities public discussions on the specifications for the concept of the transport strategy was staged in November 2017. The event was organized and held with numerous procedural violations. Nevertheless, on December 22, the Chisinau Municipal Council approved the specifications for the “Chisinau municipality transport infrastructure sustainable development concept”. This decision hasn’t been yet published on the official website of the Chisinau City Hall.
At the end of this February, a contest to select the company that was to elaborate the documents was held, but its results were annulled for the reason that this involved only one bidder. According to Vitalie Voznoi, the authorities didn’t make the organization of the contest public because particular goals have been pursued. In the second contest, there was accepted only one application, from “Chisinauproiect” Institute. The civic activists request that the procedure for approving the specifications should be repeated and should be performed in a transparent way and with the involvement of civil society.
Civic activist Olga Antonova said that even if the authorities promised to ensure transparency, high-quality public debates weren’t organized. There were committed at least ten procedural violations. The contest to design the documentation was organized by the General Architecture Division in accordance with its functioning regulations, but this does not have powers in the transport policy area.
Natalia Lipskaya, expert in transport and logistics, noted the logistics and transport policies are within the remit of the Transport Division. The chief architect abused his power when he assumed responsibility for working out the transport strategy concept. The first part of the specifications, which covers t data concerning trips made by the population, is worked out, processed and analyzed during seven months. The results will not be accurate as they do not specify the amplitude of traffic in other periods of the year.
Transport and energy expert Sergiu Ungureanu said they drafted an application addressed to the City Hall by which they request to annul the results of the contest and the Municipal Council’s decision concerning the specifications. If the application is ignored, the activists will go to court.
The experts also called on the candidates for mayor of Chisinau and the citizens of the capital city to devote attention to this problem. The activists plan to stage a roundtable meeting on the issue with the involvement of experts, municipal councilors, journalists and civic activists to discuss in detail the decision-making process and possible solutions in this regard.
