Residents of Sangera town of Chisinau municipality announced their intention to stage a protest at the entrance to the town on May 20. In a news conference at IPN, people from this town said that in spite of the Ministry of Environment’s letter about the giving up of the intention to build a hazardous waste management center near the town, locals want guarantees in this regard.
The inhabitants criticized the Central Election Commission’s decision to annul the local referendum where the residents were to vote for or against the construction of the center. The decision to annul the referendum was taken based on the Ministry of Environment’s letter, but the people do not consider this a guarantee that the idea of erecting the center will not reappear in a year or two.
Local councilor Valeriu Popa considers the Government should also annul two decisions by which land was allocated and the construction works were authorized. “It was suggested managing 35 groups of rather hazardous waste that has been collected during many years on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. A sum of €300,000 has been already spent on the construction of the center. We do not believe that they abandoned the idea so easily. This could be a momentary, not yet a final decision,” he stated.
Local councilor Ion Duca noted that the project to build the hazardous waste management center was drawn up with violations of the environmental legislation. “This center is to be built in the residential area, between the villages Dobruja, Revaca and Sangera and orchards owned by associations,” he said.
“If the center is built, nobody will want to live nearby. Some people already put their houses up for sale. Everyone is on the alert,” said Viorica Semeniuc from Sangera.
The protest is to be mounted at the entrance to Sangera between 10am and 3pm.
