Municipal councilors accuse each other of pursuing interests in repair on Chisinau Museum

Councilors of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) accused each other of pursuing personal aims in the repair works carried out on the Chisinau Museum, Info-Prim Neo reports. At Thursday’s meeting of the CMC, Lucia Culev, the head of the Culture Division, said that the works to set up the exhibition that is to be held at the museum have not started yet because the museum is still under repair even if the Construction Division had carried out repair works earlier. Culev said that over 800,000 lei is needed to prepare the exhibition. The subject aroused controversy among the councilors, who said that personal goals are involved and that somebody wants to open a restaurant at the last floor of the building. According to Lucia Culev, the idea of a restaurant at the last floor of the museum was discussed during 2005-2007, but dropped later. Oleg Cernei, councilor of the AMN faction, said that the former acting director of the Culture Division Leonid Gorceac should be sanctioned as well as the administration of Chisinau, the Construction Division, the Culture Division, the ex-deputy mayors Veaceslav Iordan and Vasile Ursu, because they were also involved, Corduneanu (the former deputy mayor on culture, now councilor on behalf of PPCD e.n.), who knew the state of affairs and did not work out a strategy for carrying out the works. “This is a case of dilapidation and use of public money. The Construction Division was allocated 2.3 million lei for repairing the museum and now somebody destroys everything, starts another work and asks for 800,000 lei more,” Oleg Cernei said. Alexandru Corduneanu replied that it should be clear who manages the money earmarked for setting up the exhibition and purchasing furniture. “During 2005-2007, we allocated money to the Construction Division for completing the repair works, but in 2008 we allocated money to the Culture Division.” He said that “somebody ordered in 2008 that the performed works be modified. “Even if Gorceac signed all the tender documents, all the works were carried out in your presence [Lucia Culev e.n.],” said the PPCD councilor, adding that the six employees of the museum receive salaries regularly even if they do not work. In the end, the councilors decided that the specialized commission will investigate the case. The Chisinau Museum is situated at the intersection of Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni and Alexei Mateevici streets.