Government to offer assistance to storm-hit communities

The Government will offer assistance from its Reserve Fund to the schools, hospitals, and other public establishments as well as underprivileged families to help them recover from the high winds, hail and heavy rains that battered Moldova earlier this week, Info-Prim Neo reports. To determine the amount of the assistance and the lists of recipients, experts from relevant ministries and agencies will travel to the affected communities without delay to estimate the damage caused to each separate household or institution. Agriculture & Food Industry Minister Anatolie Gorodenco said the heavy rains and hail affected crops on some 2,000 ha. The worst hit communities were from the districts of Falesti, Rascani, and Edinet. A village in Glodeni district lost 80 percent of its crops, with nearly a half of its 600 private households being affected. Gorodenco said the specialists of the Ministry would offer counseling and advice to the farmers in order to recover the losses from the hail-battered farmland. Among the solutions considered are to resow certain cornfields and to provide farmers with seed, especially the small ones.