State Construction Inspectorate remains silent about illegal construction that killed a child

The State Construction Inspectorate has not issued yet an official report on the unauthorised construction on 86, Columna Street, Chisinau, which caused on August 15, 2007, the death of a 6-year-old child. According to Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, the State Construction Inspectorate was due to issue an order declaring that construction as unauthorised and stipulating three possibilities of penalising the owners: fine, demolition or fine and demolition. It was only after the accident that the local authorities established that the five-level building, from which a concrete wall collapsed and killed the child in the neighbouring house, was standing there for many years without any authorisation. The mayor has repeatedly complained on the fact that from 2001, the local administration cannot take any decisions on demolishing constructions, as this prerogative exclusively stands with the State Construction Inspectorate. He promised to insist that local elected officials cancel a recently approved a directive allowing to legalise unauthorised constructions and to insist upon the demolishing of all constructions of this kind. Although local authorities promised several months ago to identify the municipal official to blame for the illegal construction on Columna Street, no names have been made public so far. The family of the deceased child, left without a home after the accident, was provided with a three-roomed apartment by the municipality.