Ion Ștefăniță, director of the Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration, who is also the deputy chairman of the National Council of Historical Monuments, responded to those who demanded that he should resign after the Council authorized the project to build a multifunctional complex near the Circus. “I will not desert and will be like a military man and will work for the history, for the cultural heritage till the end,” Ion Ștefăniță stated in a news conference at IPN.
“The Agency’s CV permanently showed efficiency. We weren’t social parasites. Each day we were on the spot, assessing the cultural heritage. We always showed the real situation. We were like a litmus test that showed the real situation in the field and each day we came with the same message: We should adopt a responsible attitude!” stated Ion Ștefăniță.
According to him, the fact that the private individuals, legal entities started to implement their intentions to develop, reconstruct, restore, rehabilitate monuments in accordance with the law shows that the Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration did its job. “Any concept, any project sketch is examined in accordance with the law, though the National Council of Historical Monuments and it is the duty of the Scientific-Methodological Council to say its word,” stated Ion Ștefăniță.
He noted that before authorizing the project of the disputed construction, he analyzed the context of the place and the experience of Romanian colleagues. The multifunctional complex will have a three-story car park and residential areas. The access will be ensured from the yard and traffic jams on Renaşterii Blvd will not be created.
The Councils chairman Iurie Povar said there is no risk of landslides on the building lot. On the right side of the lot, there is a building erected three years ago and this passed the test of time and has no fissures or deformations. The building lot is stable and favorable. The distance from the closest building of the complex to the Circus is of 100 meters.
On February 3, members of the Civic Congress Party mounted a protest against the construction of the aforementioned complex. The several dozen protesters said that a campaign to destroy the historical monuments of the capital city is planned to be carried out in Chisinau. The protesters asked for a meeting with acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi and demanded that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research should annul its decision by which the current composition of the National Council of Historical Monuments was confirmed.
