More state institutions present reports in parliament on nourishment of children in Moldovan schools, kindergartens

Chisinau, 16 November /MOLDPRES/ - More state’s institutions today presented reports in parliament on optimizing the legislative framework on the nourishment of children in education institutions. The hearings took place, after law-enforcement bodies had earlier discovered faking of tenders and supply of perished food products to schools and kindergartens.

During hearings, the state secretary general of the Education, Culture and Research Ministry, Igor Sarov, said that, during March-October 2017, the government had undertaken more actions for improving the quality of children’s nourishment. “I refer to the endowment of the storehouse for preserving products, increasing payments for nourishment, holding working meetings with the leadership of the education institutions and district councils. Thus, the participants spoke about ways of preserving children’s nourishment safely, with the observance of the sanitary norms. Also, decision-makers managed to adapt the menu for children to the norms stipulated and in 2018, the quantum of the sum earmarked for nourishment will increase,” Sarov noted.  

For their part, public health specialists said that “model menus were approved for a better nourishment and the control of dishes, safety of food products, supervision of small children’s health are regularly taking place; yet, despite these measures, there are outbreaks of salmonella and rotavirus.”  

A representative of the Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Ministry, Vasile Luca, said that the present legislation transposed the norms on the quality of foodstuffs and the requirements for them. “These norms have an international status; nevertheless, there are unclear things as to the roles and competences of the monitoring bodies. Thus, controls are needed at all stages of production for the protection of consumers and raising the responsibility of economic agents,” Luca said.     

The deputy head of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA), Ion Toma, stressed that decision-makers established that the conditions of delivery of food products were not observed and some of these products are not recommended to children. “Also, there is a small number of specialized staff. To improve the situation, meetings were summoned with the leadership of education institutions, which was informed about the norms necessary and the model of carrying out public procurement. Nevertheless, the latest controls unveiled a positive dynamic of the situation in the food sector; yet, we found out that it is necessary to adopt laws on children’s nourishment, raise the responsibility of the factors involved and clearly establish the criteria of food products,” Toma said.    

“In the wake of what was found out, prosecutors opened 32 criminal files. As a result of the actions undertaken, more persons involved were detained. So far, five of them have been convicted, with the files of another five persons sent to court, and in case of 14 people, work is still carried out and the degree of guilt is being investigated,” the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Viorel Morari, said.       

At the same time, most MPs said that “they saw no improvements as to the sector of children’s nourishment in education institutions and they are not contented with the reports unveiled in parliament.”

Following the discussions, the participants ruled that, a final draft decision, the “black” list of economic agents and civil servants involved should be presented at a parliament meeting.

In November 2016, the prosecutors made raids at more enterprises from Chisinau which were supplying perished products to education institutions. After investigations carried out, decision-makers established that civil servants, school headmasters, directors of kindergartens had been involved in these schemes. They were deliberately faking tenders, in order to get right to deliver food products to education institutions.  

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)