The Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration will insist that all the decisions taken in the area of cultural heritage management should comply with the law, the Agency’s director Ion Ștefăniță stated in a news conference at IPN where there were presented the results of a dispute concerning two pieces of land situated in the Public Garden in Bălți.
Ion Ștefăniță said the institution he represents wants everything to happen in accordance with the law, either a private individual or a legal entity is involved. Since 2010, when he started work in the cultural heritage protection sector, he has insisted that the illegalities should be stopped. “We consider the parks are holy for the citizens,” he stated. “We do not act against business entities. We want the law to triumph. The private individuals and legal entities, including the public functionaries who serve the people, should obey the law”.
Nicolai Usatîi, civic activist from Bălți, said the Appeals Court on January 17 ruled in their favor by annulling the decisions taken by the Bălți Municipal Council in 2013-2014 by which the two lots were sold at a very low price. The court held that the parcels shouldn’t have been sold as they are public property. The decision can be challenged during 30 days. Nicolai Usatîi noted that he went to court over this case because it is not right for the land in the city, which is part of the culture and history, to be allotted to particular persons.
Diana Grosu, of the Association for Human Rights Lex XXI, said the park is a historical monument founded in 1818. “The public property is managed fraudulently in Bălți. Land is sold at very low prices. The cases are hushed up so that society does not know them. In the municipality of Bălți, they often intervene in historical and cultural monuments without asking for the participation and consent of the National Council of Historical Monuments. This practice should be ended,” she stated.
Before the court passed its judgment, the Association for Human Rights Lex XXI requested the Bălți Municipal Council to annul its decisions concerning the two parcels, but nothing was done.
The central park in Bălți called the Public Garden occupies an area of about 3 ha. One third of the territory became private property.