Vicious circle or old people fed with promises by Tarlev’s Cabinet

Almost a month has passed since Prime-Minister Vasile Tarlev launched the initiative to provide hot meals to poor older people in the villages that suffered from drought. However, the responsible group hasn’t even yet systematised the lists of potential beneficiaries. Radu Caruta, department chief in the Ministry of Local Public Administration (MAPL) told Info-Prim Neo that the district presidents are responsible for the delay. They haven’t yet offered to the Ministry the information about the number of older people in need of meals, even though the deadline set by the Prime-Minister was September 25. “We don’t have enough influence on regional administration”, said the official. He tried to justify the delay by saying that the district presidents are also dependent on the information which comes from the villages’ town halls. On the other hand, the town halls don’t have enough employees to gather all the needed information in order to update the old one. The information wasn’t submitted by the administration of Ungheni, Hancesti, Leova, Soldanesti, Stefan-Voda, and UTA Gagauzia districts. According to the ordinance issued by the Prime-Minister on September 7, the meals for the old people will be financed by the state budget, as well as by international humanitarian aid. After the lists are systematised, MAPL and the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child will decide the way in which the old people will be fed. The food is to be offered free of charge in social cafeterias; in case the villages lack a social cafeteria it will be administered in school cafeterias. The government was advised to use school cafeterias for providing meals to poor people in villages by FAO chief Henri Josserand during the presentation of the preliminary report on drought effects.