The problem of the Tantareni garbage dump, which is a bomb ticking near Chisinau, will be solved within 20 months by building a waste recycling plant near the Chisinau wastewater treatment station. The decision was made by the Chisinau Municipal Council on Tuesday. The Council discussed and approved the contract for the design and construction of the plant, Info-Prim Neo reports. The idea of building a solid waste recycling plant in Chisinau belongs to the former mayor Serafim Urecheanu and was put forward in 1999. Later, in 2006, the former acting mayor Vasile Ursu, who was supported financially and politically by the Communist government, negotiated and signed a contract with the Italian group Engineering Consulting, which was selected by an international tender contest from another eight foreign companies. After the 2007 elections, the new Chisinau administration identified a series of irregularities in the contract signed by Ursu, to the detriment of the Chisinau residents, such as the obligation for the local authorities to purchase electric power produced by burning waste without being able to negotiate the tariff and permission to bring waste from abroad, which does not exude the possibility of importing toxic waste. The City Hall renegotiated the contract with the Italian company. The plant will occupy about ten hectares of land that will be leased out for a period of 30 years and will produce electrical energy by burning solid waste. It will also process the dried mud from the wastewater treatment station. Investments total about 200 million lei. The project was approved by the vote of 30 councilors. The faction of the PCRM asked for a break until Thursday to study the draft decision more thoroughly as it implies huge costs. The other factions, including of the PPCD, rejected the proposal and the Communist faction left the meeting hall in protest.