Solving waste issues and the need to establish an efficient solid waste management in Stefan Voda and Causeni rayons from South Development region were the subjects of the public consultations organised recently in Stefan Voda by the South Regional Development Region (RDA) and the ‘Modernization of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova’ (MLPS) project implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ.
During the consultations, the local authorities of both levels and service operators from concerned rayons pointed out to the challenges they face in the field of waste management. GIZ/MLPS experts and South RDA specialists documented the expectations and needs of LPAs regarding technical support to overcome the issues in the Solid Waste Management (SWM) sector.
In the opening of the event, Nicolae Molozea, president of Stefan Voda rayon and of the South Regional Development Council expressed his gladness that the Stefan Voda Rayon Council is hosting such an event. For the issue of managing the waste is the one which is constantly on the local public administration radar. It is drawn from the Socio-Economic Strategy of the Rayon and the Urban Development Plan, in which the environment field is included as a priority one and from the regional scheme for waste organisation, collection and transportation under the ‘risk zone’ component.
‘The issue of sanitation and efficient waste management is a common one today for all local public administrations from the South Development Region. As this is a stringent issue and wishing to solve it, we have actively cooperated with GIZ/MLPS and South RDA with a view for a feasibility study to be developed by the German donor for the creation of the Integrated Waste Management System for Waste Management Zone no.3 in the South Development Region in line with the provisions of the Strategy for Waste Management of the Republic of Moldova for 2013-2027. Now that a decision is awaited at the central level concerning funding in this respect, I consider it positive and timely that GIZ is still ready to provide technical assistance for the improvement of inter-municipal cooperation, setting a temporary landfills and managing them, applying the methodology of tariff fixing, waste recycling, information and raising awareness about the impact of uncollected waste on health and of unpaid tarifffs’, said Nicolae Molozea.
Further, Tatiana Arama, head of strategic planning and programming division from South RDA and Denis Parea, GIZ/MLPS national advisor on local public services facilitated the discussions between the participants, making a retrospective of current situation in the Solid Waste Management sector in the South Development Region and of actions presently carried out to solve environment related issues.
The policy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment concerning Solid Waste Management and LPAs obligations in implementing this policy were discussed. In this context, the policy documents and existing legal framework in the field were also mentioned. Moreover, it was specified that a Regional Sector Commission in the field of Solid Waste Management was created with GIZ/MLPS support at regional level to implement environment policies, solve waste related issues and provide modern and quality sanitation services to the population.
Tamara Guvir, GIZ expert in the SWM field presented relevant and comprehensive details on the current situation in the SWM sector in Stefan Voda and Causeni rayons, as well as the next steps to take in overcoming the difficulties in the given sector.
Among most harshest problems identified in the SWM sector, Tamara Guvir mentioned the lack of storage facilities, of temporary landfill sites and funds, weak inter-municipal cooperation and lack of service coverage, as well as unsatisfactory information of population on the waste charges and the impact of uncollected waste on people’s health.
Considering the issues identified, the GIZ expert made, also, recommendations regarding improvement of the situation in the field of Solid Waste Management. One of the best solutions in this respect would be association of LPAs from Stefan Voda and Causeni rayons in joint management of so-called temporary landfills. In the experts’ opinion this would allow decrease the area of the actual number of existing landfills in Stefan Voda and Causeni rayons, including the incidental ones and arranging landfills in compliance with sanitary and epidemiological regulations. Moreover, this would certainly lead to the regionalisation of sanitation services and efficient solid waste management in the localities from the mentioned rayons.
LPAs are going to develop project outlines for the arrangement of temporary landfills and look for funding and GIZ/MLPS is ready to provide technical support via the Regional Sector Commission in the SWM field in developing project documentation, increasing operators’ capacities, organising trainings on introducing local taxes or tariffs for waste management, adopting raising awareness measures for the population, etc.
In this context, the mayors of several localities from Stefan Voda and Causeni present at the meeting identified priority areas of assistance, which, in their opinion would be useful in the difficult waste management process.
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The project ‘Modernization of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova’ (MLPS) is implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment and is financially supported by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Romanian Government, the Swedish Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
