The study “Inter-Municipal Cooperation to Improve Local Water Supply and Sanitation Services: Opportunities, Gaps, Current Legal Bottlenecks and Possibilities to Amend the Legal Framework” of the Congress of Local Public Authorities in Moldova (CALM) was presented in the Conference Hall “Saxophone”. The event was attended by about 50 representatives of the Central Public Authorities, I and II level Local Public Authorities and representatives of donor community and development partners.
The main objective of the event was presentation of the results of research undertaken by CALM expert team that addresses possible models of cooperation under the current legislation, the current situation in Moldova related to intercommunity cooperation in Water Supply and Sanitation, the experience of other countries in inter-municipal cooperation (especially Romania and Macedonia) as well as a number of conclusions, recommendations and proposals for amending legislation. The study was conducted as a result of active consultations with representatives of LPA and representatives of the community of development partners involved in the field.
At the beginning of the meeting, Stefan VLAS, mayor of Sarata Galbena and deputy chairman of CALM, said that the Water Supply and Sanitation was a very complex field for all stakeholders, and that any initiative to elucidate problems in the area was welcome.
Also Stefan Vlas said that the subject matter addressed by the study was very interesting and new for mayors in Moldova, and the information presented in it was very useful and practical and thus the study should be disseminated to all rayons of the country.
The coordinating expert, Ion BESCHIERU, said the main objective of the study was to analyze the current legal framework and identify possible patterns of Inter-Municipal Cooperation for Local Public Authorities under the current legislation. Also, to improve this mechanism, the international experience was also reviewed, and following it the most compatible patterns of inter-municipal cooperation were identified based on Romanian and Macedonian experience, which served as the basis for developing recommendations and proposals to amend the legislation.
Valentina PLEŞCA, Deputy Director LGSP, mentioned the importance of identifying ways to provide quality services under the current law, as the legal framework is never perfect.
“…Local public authorities are responsible to provide quality services at affordable prices to the public, and intermunicipal cooperation comes as a tool to provide quality services at a price that people can afford on the one hand, and on the other hand we must consider how the operators work in order for the tariffs to cover the costs and provide additional income for development. I’m sure the study is very complex and most of the proposals both on the legal framework and those related to improving regional cooperation and its importance is greater given that it was made under the existing legislation, and in my opinion it is important to achieve what we can today, as the legal framework is never perfect.” said Valentina PLEŞCA.
Andrei CANTEMIR, SDC representative in Moldova, mentioned the importance of study designed to elucidate the possibilities for cooperation especially in Water Supply and Sanitation.
„…I have been working with technical assistance for many years and I know the area and its problems. In SDC we have reached the limit when the sustainability of implemented projects depends on the cooperation between communities and the initiative to clarify this issue is very timely, particularly in the field of Water Supply and Sanitation”, said Andrei CANTEMIR.
Nicolae MELNIC, Mayor of Calarasi, said there were cooperation initiatives at LPA level, which for certain reasons did not have any positive outcome, while CALM initiative implemented through this study was timely and welcome, because it provided a practical inter-municipal perspective of inter-municipal cooperation.
Scott Johnson, LGSP director, mentioned that the project cooperated with a number of towns in the republic, including on inter-municipal cooperation, and the study presented by CALM would be useful for a number of fields. First of all, it presents a review of inter-municipal cooperation opportunities in the existing legal framework. The study also presents some possible patterns of cooperation compared with the patterns in other countries, and the most important thing is that it gives us information about what we should not be afraid of.
Following the discussions, the participants noted that the initiative of adjusting the legal framework in order to improve inter-cooperation mechanism was welcome and very timely since this mechanism, from the perspective of European integration of Moldova, both at the level of central public authorities and the local authorities is the most viable for the medium- and long-term development of quality public services.
It should be noted that the working session was held at the initiative of CALM under the “Strengthening the capacity of local public authorities in Moldova in water supply and sanitation” project implemented by CALM with the financial support of USAID. The primary goal of the project is to identify effective models for managing water supply and sanitation services based on the particularities of the activity and LPA skills.
