Local councilors taught to differentiate between public and private patrimony

The local elected authorities should understand the difference between the public patrimony and the private patrimony. The decisions taken by the councilors depend on what category the property belongs to, Vasile Cioaric, project coordinator at CONTACT Center, said in a training course intended for Straseni local councilors, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Vasile Cioaric, the public patrimony of the territorial-administrative units that includes the museums, schools and hospitals, is imprescriptible and imperceptible. It cannot be sold or pledged and must be returned immediately if it was sold illegally. ”The local public authorities usually make the annual inventory of the property located on the territory of the territorial-administrative unit and produce distinct registers. When the local Council decides to lease or sell a plot or a facility by auction, it must make sure that they can be leased or sold,” said Vasile Cioaric. The CONTACT Center identified many cases when the public patrimony is managed with violations, sometimes serious, the public plots are leased out without auction and facilities are put up for auction when they cannot be auctioned. The councilors often do not understand what category the property forms part of and vote in favor of selling it. Thus, the local Council can decide to sell buildings of schools, libraries and museums without moving them from a sphere to another. The training course “Strengthening local public authorities’ capacities by training the local elected authorities” was held within the Domestic Election Monitoring and Voter Education in Moldova - Strengthening of Capacities and International Networking Project. The project is implemented by the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections that includes the National Assistance and Information Center for NGOs in Moldova CONTACT in partnership with the European Exchange Association. It is financed by the European Union.