On June 14, the citizens of Moldova will vote the new local administration. IPN News Agency set the goal to determine how the local public authorities coped during the current term that is coming to an end. Experts, opinion leaders and representatives of civil society from different settlements will assess the activity of the local authorities of the country’s districts and municipalities. IPN series: Donduseni district
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Donduseni district has 30 settlements, 22 mayor’s offices and a population of over 40,000.
The mayor’s offices of Donduseni district that manage one settlement offer the residents a dose of comfort in terms of distance as their social needs are satisfied faster. This does not yet refer to the small settlements managed by a common mayor’s office. In this case, the population has to travel to another settlement to solve particular problems or to access particular services, said the head of the public association “Young Women Cernoleuca” of Donduseni Victoria Cojocaru. According to her, the mayor’s offices managing several small villages are often visited in the election campaign, but investments are made in the larger settlements as it is easier to justify the incurred costs there.
Victoria Cojocaru said that when the counties were replaced again by districts, it became easier for the residents of Donduseni district to solve personal, social, medical and other kinds of problems. The district councilors play an important role in managing the financial resources in the district’s interests and are able to take decisions based on the priorities and investments needs. The money is used to develop the social and economic infrastructure in all the district’s settlements. “The counties are probably more economical for the state as regards maintenance and remuneration, but for the inhabitants of the district, the current administration system, based on district councils, is more convenient,” she stated.
In another development, the head of the association “Young Women Cernoleuca” said that corruption is not excluded, but the way of thinking of the people from developed states becomes an orientation vector for the Moldovan villages too. Over the last few years, employees of the local administration paid many fact-finding visits with the aim of establishing partnerships with settlements from the EU. Moldova befitted from considerable funds from the EU and the U.S. and the living standards could be improved.
A poll carried out by the association “Young Women Cernoleuca” shows that the most serious problem is the absence of workplaces, especially for persons who return from abroad and are not registered as unemployed persons. “Therefore, investments are primarily needed in economy, in creating enterprises. The state should facilitate the starting of businesses and the creation of jobs,” said Victoria Cojocaru.
Speaking about the results achieved by the local authorities, Victoria Cojocaru gave as example the mayor’s office of Taul village, which struggled to transfer the Pommer Mansion and the Dendrological Park under the administration of the local authorities from state administration. While being managed by the state during tens of years, this architectural monument got ruined. Now the Pommer Mansion was partially restored, with the support of the local authorities.
According to the expert, the mayor’s offices should have legal powers to open and maintain social facilities such as multifunctional centers for the elderly or the youth, provision of financial support to active associations that are now few in number and are mainly financed by foreign donors.
As to the promises made in the previous election campaign, Victoria Cojocaru said surely not all of these were fulfilled, for different objective or subjective reasons. Asked about the expectations of this year’s local elections, she said that each citizen must know the platforms of the contenders and analyze their experience so as to make a choice based on candidates’ managerial skills, not on their political orientation.
The expert considers that there are opportunities for the active persons who want to do nice things. The Moldovan communities went through difficult periods when the electric power was switched on for several hours and salaries weren’t paid during several months. The role of civil society is to become involved in cultivating social responsibility, starting with the participation in elections and community activity, stimulation of volunteering and financial involvement.
Elena Nistor, IPN
