Moldovan government, local public authorities agree to maintain open dialogue to settle citizens' problems

Chisinau, 1 February /MOLDPRES/ - Representatives of the Central Public Administration (APC) and Local Public Administration (APL) today participated in an event titled, Live Dialogue with APL, organized by the Moldovan government, on the occasion of the day of local autonomy and local public administration employee.

Attending the event were Prime Minister Pavel Filip, cabinet members, Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko, Ambassador of the United States to Moldova James Pettit, as well as other high-ranking officials.    

At the opening of the event, PM Pavel Filip said that the maintaining of the cooperation between APC and APL was extremely important, as the well-being of the people from Moldova’s settlements depends on this. “A direct, sincere and constructive dialogue is necessary. In the last two years, we have covered difficult phases; yet, we proved that we cope with the most urgent problems. We have worked and further work in an enhanced pace and the results motivate us to continue. Today, we invited here all ministers, in order to discuss with you reforms and problems, which we will jointly endevour to solve successfully. Thank you for your work and for the pro-active approaches you prove,” Filip said.        

At the same time, Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko said that the local administration was very important for the European partners, as the latter rely much on local development. “You have every support of EU, which is a reliable partner. We count a lot on the improvement and enhancement of accessibility to public services and on reforms which will bring visible benefits to the citizens. We rely on an open and constructive dialogue for continuing local projects for the good of the citizens,” Michalko said.  

“The local authorities enjoy the biggest support on behalf of citizens; therefore, you bear a great responsibility. The USA will continue providing the needed assistance to the country’s citizens. We urge you to work openly, transparently and resist all pressures and the needs of the citizens should stay the most important thing,” U.S. Ambassador in Chisinau James Pettit said.  

For her part, the head of the Local Authorities Congress, Tatiana Badan, noted that, in 2017, the situation concerning the APLs had not change to a great extent. “We want to settle problems together, for which we need unity and consensus. Last year, we have debts practically in all sectors as to the implementation of the agenda; another problem represents the low wages, inefficient communication. Tasks are imposed to us, without us having a budget for these actions. The reforms are not carried out in rooms; they must be transparent and discussed widely; in this way, we will get good results,” Tatiana Badan said.     

The day of local autonomy and local public administration employee is annually marked on 1 February. There are about 900 mayoralties in Moldova.  

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)