Municipal councillors say interpellations submitted to City Hall and Prosecutor’s Office are examined selectively

A number of municipal councillors are concerned about the fate of the interpellations submitted to the City Hall and the Prosecutor’s Office during the Chisinau Municipal Council’s sessions, claiming that they are examined in a selective manner, depending on their authors. On the other hand, there are councillors who say that all their petitions were answered, Info-Prim Neo reports. [Civil servants should get professional initiation training courses] Councillor of the Social Action Bloc (BAS) Ion Mamaliga told Info-Prim Neo that both civil servants and law enforcement bodies respond to councillors’ interpellation rather formally. BAS councillor says it has become a common occurrence in the City Hall to get a problem solved only after the functionary “is asked”. A relevant example is the reluctance to offer a room to BAS and unaffiliated councillors, so that they would have the opportunity to meet their voters. CMC Secretary Nicolae Manastarli has been promising a room for months, but the problem hasn’t been solved so far, despite an official interpellation made in this regard, says Mamaliga. The councillor also blames the law enforcement bodies for not abiding by the law when it comes to interpellations from local authorities. An example in this respect is the reaction to the interpellation made after former mayor Vasile Ursu had allotted, in 2005, two apartments situated in the courtyard of the City Hall to a judge and a prosecutor. The apartments drew judicial officers’ attention when the former owner’s wife claimed them back in court. According to Mamaliga, the new owners managed to privatise the dwellings in a short period of time – one for MDL 300, and the other for MDL 400. All the interpellations submitted by councillors in this regard to Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office, received a formal response, says Mamaliga. Ion Mamaliga believes that the solution is to have the functionaries’ turn of mind changed and to make them realise what the relation between civil servants, citizens, and councillors really means. [Petitions concerning the ruling party members remain unsolved] Councillor of “Ravnopravie” Social-Political Movement Valeri Climenco claims that the communists have neglected a number of laws that prescribe time limits and quality requirements for responses to petitions. Climenco said that his interpellation submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office and City Hall concerning an access road to the house of former communist councillor and vice mayor Fiodor Negru, which required MDL 2.5 mln of public money, ended in a decision by former interim mayor Vasile Ursu, who ordered that the money be paid, retroactively, from public coffers. “Moldova’s laws are made for poor people, not for communists”, insisted Climenco. The councillor said he also notified the specialised bodies about the sale of a plot located in the surroundings of the Airport. In his words, that plot should have been the building site of the so-called “Sun City” residential settlement, in which social dwellings were due to be erected and that would provide 20,000 persons with jobs. Climenco said the land was purchased from peasants for insignificant sums, at a price of MDL 8,000 a hectare, so that it could be sold out for EUR 10-15 thousand per hectare just two years later. The councillor admits that some of the interpellations had adequate answers and even some of the problems were solved. Although this is not the case when it comes to the infringements committed by members of the ruling party. “Fear took hold upon all who are obliged to respect and enforce the law, and that is why corruption boomed during the communist rule”, concluded Climenco. [Communists are pleased with the way problems are solved] Communist councillor Victor Borgula says that all the issues that he brought up, such as land matters, public utilities, the renovation of the water treatment plant, were taken into consideration by the City Hall, and the majority of them were solved. Borgula says that this list embodies the aid provided to Chisinau residents, for instance, roof repairs, stopping of constructions in Chisinau’s green spaces, etc. The councillor admitted that not all the interpellations were carried through to completion. He also said that the prosecutor’s presence during CMC sessions “allows to solve all the issues in due time”. He stated further that a for-year term is insufficient for a prolific activity of CMC. “Councillors barely manage to get some experience, when their term of office expires and other elections come”, concluded Borgula [PPCD councillors are satisfied too] PPCD councillor Victor Grebenscicov is also pleased with how the problems brought up in interpellations are solved. In his words, every interpellation that he submitted had a response in writing. He gave examples of how interpellations worked: constructions in Alunelul Park were stopped, crosswalks set up, talks regarding the General Urban Plan resumed, etc. [Communists completely neglect interpellations from opposition councillors] AMN councillor Oleg Cernei says the majority of interpellations submitted to the City Hall by opposition councillors are left unanswered, and this is why he chose another way to petition, by addressing interpellations directly to representatives of the Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office and Ministry of Local Public Administration, attending CMC sessions. “The communists, who control the entire municipal structure, are completely neglecting interpellations from opposition councillors. On the other hand, we can use this opportunity to inform the public opinion and law enforcement bodies, via mass-media, about abuses and embezzlements occurring in the City Hall”, Cernei said. . Reffering to one of his interpellations that concerned a MDL 600,000 sum used by former interim mayor Ursu to purchase flags on the occasion of the Independence Day, Oleg Cernei said the Prosecutor’s Office made up a committee that traced several infringements. As a consequence, the firm that sold low quality flags was obliged to provide a new consignment. To have that done, the municipal budget was to pay another MDL 120,000, and that is way the problem was left unsolved. “According to procedures, the mayor was obliged to request the councillor’s consent to make costly purchases, […] and to announce a public bid to designate the supplier. But Ursu ignored the law, causing MDL 600,000 losses to the municipal budget, and yet managing to go unpunished for this deal”, Cernei said. He also recalled the case of the snowploughs bought by the municipality, that he called “a EUR 2 mln embezzlement”, because the vehicles “are completely unsuitable for Chisinau”, Cernei said. [Editor’s Note] In compliance with Moldova’s legislation, councillor’s interpellations shall be answered within one month.