The Chisinau councilors of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) will not support the increase in waste collection and storage tariffs that is to be discussed in the April 21 meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council. According to the councilors, better waste management should be first ensured by making sure that waste is sorted and stored separately on solid waste platforms, IPN reports.
The PAS councilors said the cleanup company “Autosalubritate” proposes raising the tariffs three times. “They present the rates applied in European cities to justify their demand, but forget to show the quality of service in these cities, the living standards there and how waste collection, sorting and storage processes are managed there,” chairman of the PAS group on the CMC Roman Cojuhari told a news conference.
The councilor noted the tariffs cannot be raised in a city where the refuse, including municipal solid waste and recyclable waste, is transported by one garbage truck, while the administration of the company and the capital city do not have a waste management strategy. “Where are the separate waste storage platforms that were to replace the 1,700 old waste tubes in the stairs of apartment buildings? Over 10 million lei was allocated for implementing this initiative,” said Roman Cojuhari.
According to him, the municipality of Chisinau daily produces about 600 tonnes of waste that are taken to the landfill in Țânțăreni. In seven years, this landfill will become too small and it is not clear where the waste will be stored later. The deplorable situation in the field is the result of the municipality’s refusal to cooperate with the Ministry of Environment to work out a waste management strategy.
The tariff is suggested to be raised to 153.10 lei per cubic meter, up from the current tariff of 69.46 lei. “Autosalubritate”, which proposed the draft decision on the adjustment of tariffs for public debates, said the new tariffs were determined by taking into account the increase in the prices of fuel and other consumables, the inflation rate for 2021 and the minimum salary of 3,500 lei in the real sector.
