Flood cleanup will cost Moldova 970m lei

Moldova needs 970 million lei to mitigate the consequences of this summer's floods. The estimate was presented to the Government by Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Vadim Pistrinciuc, Info-Prim Neo reports. The assessment report was compiled by a government commission that included experts of UN Agencies and the World Bank. The report says the floods affected 13,000 persons from 85 settlements of 16 districts. 3,100 persons have been evacuated – 2,300 in Hancesti district and 800 in Cantemir district. There were damaged 4,100 hectares of crops, 9 hectares of orchards, 418 hectares of pastures as well as 7 levees and 182 kilometers of road. The losses make up 0.15% of the GDP. Most of the damage was caused in infrastructure. Though the damage in the social sector is not significant from financial viewpoint, the human dimension of this natural disaster is unimportant as in the case of other calamities. The affected population lost their incomes and became vulnerable, Vadim Pistrinciuc said. The flood relief measures include repairing the damaged levees and building new ones, improving calamity risk management, formulating a transparent program to reconstruct the houses and wells, creating workplaces and providing utilities for flood victims.