Moldovan acting premier chairs meeting of Emergency Situations Commission

Chisinau, 29 December /MOLDPRES/ - Acting Prime Minister Iurie Leanca today chaired a meeting of the Commission for Emergency Situations. The participants discussed the situation all over Moldova due to heavy snowfalls. The event took place at the Operational Centre for Emergencies Management, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.

According to the official data, at noon, 16 settlements from six districts were disconnected from electricity. The Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Service reported that, due to snows, the traffic was difficult in the south of Moldova. The Cahul district is the most hit. Here snow banks got up to 70 centimetres, especially in the villages of Valeni, Cislita Prut, Burlaceni and Iujnaia.

Representatives of the Cahul-based Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Service asked for additional snow-clearing vehicles, in order to deal with the situation. In this respect, Iurie Leanca assured them that the equipment would get to the destination soon.

At present, over 500 people, 268 special machines are involved in cleaning the roads. About 3,000 tons of anti-skid materials were spread on the roads. Cars, which are not equipped with winter tyres, represent another reason for the highways’ blocking.

The State Hydro-meteorological Service has informed that a sharp decrease of the temperature (down to -25°C) is expected on the next days. As a result, tents are to be installed in more districts on 30 December, where people will be able to have a tea and a blanket. The tents will be heat with generators, where temperature will be of +15 degrees Celsius at least. 

The Border Police warned about that the Ukrainian side had temporarily ceased the entry and exit via the checkpoints Saiti-Lesnoe, Mirnoe-Tabaki, Cismikioi- Dolinskoe, Vulcanesti- Vinogradovka. The Border Police also requested to avoid the cross-border points Cahul-Oancea and Giurgiulesti–Galati, due to the fact that some roads were closed and participants in the cross-border traffic are forced to stay in these points till the situation improves.

The drivers, who have a car weighing more than 3.5 t, are requested to avoid the Leuseni- Albita checkpoint.

At the end, Iurie Leanca highlighted that, in such situations, the most important was the good coordination of forces of rescuers and firemen, police and Border Police, as well as of doctors: „Thus, complex interventions, which need more services to be involved concomitantly, will be carried out faster and more efficiently.”