Representatives of the public institution Orhei National Park said that even if 6.5 million lei was earmarked in the 2022 state budget for the activity of the institution, the money hasn’t been disbursed. According to them, this happened because the Ministry of Environment and the Forestry Agency “Moldsilva” grossly violate the legal provisions. They called on the senior administration to become involved and make sure the financing is allocated to the institution.
In a news conference at IPN, Angela Lazarenco, head of the Legal Unit of the Orhei National Park, said the public institution was registered in 2020, being founded by a Parliament decision of 2013, based on a project implemented in 2009-2013 at a cost of over US$1 million that was allocated from the state budget.
“It is alarming as the Ministry of Environment and the Forestry Agency “Moldsilva” glossy violate the provisions of the 2022 state budget law and the Orhei National Park by today, May 18, 2022, hasn’t been allocated money for ensuring its functionality. But the public authorities that now govern the Republic of Moldova do not care and ignore the millions of lei spent on the creation of this park. Millions of lei has been spent from the state budget, from the budget of international organizations,” stated Angela Lazarenco.
Ilian Cașu, who is in charge of communication at the Orhei National Park, said that a multitude of actions were taken during the last eight years to create a public institution that would manage the protected wooded area of the park. “We constituted a team of protection inspectors, scientific secretaries, forest engineers. We have this public institution, the Orhei National Park. We have two functional administration boards. The created public institution is to deal with one of the key global problems – climate change,” stated Ilian Cașu.
The park is a treasure of the country. “Imagine that the Orhei National Park is a car in a very good state. If we do not fill the reservoir with fuel, it will not work. It should be clear that money for the functioning of the Orhei National Park was earmarked by the 2022 state budget law. Why didn’t the state institutions – the Ministry of Environment and “Moldsilva” – allocate this money? The question is addressed to these institutions,” said Ilian Cașu.
Professor Dionisie Boaghe, scientific secretary of the Orhei National Park, said the research component is very important and the best flora and fauna and territorial development specialists were employed in this regard. But financing is needed for the purpose. “The park was already institutionalized. The budget was approved and was agreed by state officials. But this financing is not provided and we do not know why. Something does not work when the approved funds reach a ministry and this says that it does not have money,” stated Dionisie Boaghe.
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