Moldovan premier calls for close cooperation of local authorities, specialized services for winding up bad weather consequences

Chisinau, 22 April /MOLDPRES/ – The Committee on Extraordinary Situations had a new meeting today, during which the results of the intervention actions were presented for the removal of the consequences of heavy snowfalls and the updated assessment of the situation, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Pavel Filip thanked all those involved in the liquidation of the consequences of bad weather, especially the structures that are part of the Crisis Cell, who have mobilized to the maximum.

At the same time, the Prime Minister stressed that the situation remained difficult, especially in connection with the localities' re-connection to electricity. At present, 415 localities in 16 districts remain partially or totally without electricity. For the re-connection of the affected localities in the Centre and South of Moldova, there are involved 156 intervention teams, consisting of 600 non-stop workers. "Everything should be done to reconnect localities to the power supply. The distribution and installation of generators should only take place via the Crisis Cell. There should be no call without attention," said Premier.

In this respect, the competent structures present at the meeting reported that inventories and testing of the generators took place and were ready to be commissioned at the request of the local authorities. In the South of Moldova, where the worst is the situation, a technical solution was found to power the affected localities by means of a lesser electricity line.

Regarding the state of the roads, the members of the Crisis Cell informed that about 500 employees worked at snow removal, equipped with more than 300 technical units. All national routes were practicable. In the case of local roads, the access roads to the district centers in 31 localities remained blocked. "We have the necessary forces and capabilities; we must establish close contact with those in the territory. It is important to communicate, in particular, the General Police Inspectorate and the Ministry of Transports and Road Infrastructure to update the information in hourly hours to provide comprehensive information to citizens," said Pavel Filip.

Another important aspect is the removal of fallen branches and trees, both from the localities and from the riverside, in order to avoid flooding. For this purpose, professional cutters will be involved. The pond owners also were urged to organize coordinated leakage from the ponds.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister asked the Agricultural Ministry to start the assessment of the losses at the level of district centres, in addition to advising agricultural producers via hotline, so that the info could later be analyzed on the platform of the National Emergency Situation Commission.