In December 2013 – February 2014, the 2,200 residents of the Tatarauca Veche village are being informed about the benefits of public street lighting system, but also about the responsibility of citizens to pay bills for this common good on time. The modern and economical street lighting system for the six localities of the commune was established with the financial support of “Modernization of Local Public Services” Project, managed by German Development Cooperation through GIZ. GIZ provided support through the North Regional Development Agency.
The current campaign aims to remind of the costs and benefits of a public service, such as the street lighting. Thus, the message „Village Brought to Life by the Power of Light” accompanies the 1,000 flyers and the 1,000 booklets of the campaign.
The promotion materials are disseminated under five public meetings and ten workshops for the pupils in the local secondary school. A thematic drawing contest was organized for the pupils.
At the same time, the campaign involves consultancy for the local citizens’ committee, which oversees the proper implementation of the street lighting project. The committee is an initiative group, composed of people who are voluntarily involved in community outreach in order to be connected and to timely pay the public service fee.
The Director of North Development Agency, Ion Bordug, argues: “An information campaign under the street lighting project in Tatarauca Veche is welcome. This way, we hope that these communities will learn from this successful experience too – both in terms of the street lighting and as concerns the proper management of funds and of public services implicitly”.
“The investment was made for the residents of Tatarauca Veche commune, for their welfare and safety, a fact to a great extent understood by them. Through direct communication and sincere discussions we manage to convince that they must keep this service, as public lighting is one of criteria of the quality of life”, argues Veronica Savin from Contact Center in Balti, a non-governmental organization conducting the campaign.
In autumn 2012, when the works for organization of the lighting system were being implemented, the first information activities for Tatarauca Veche community were conducted. 16 information boards were installed and 500 flyers were disseminated. Six public hearings were held, where women and men in the commune discussed about how the service fee was established and how the service was maintained.
The successful story of Tatarauca Veche was also the subject of a documentary film on street lighting in rural localities, mounted in 2013 and available in Romanian and English languages.
These local campaigns to promote energy efficiency in street lightning are conducted in partnership with the North Regional Development Agency, the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction and the Energy Efficiency Agency.
The street lighting service is managed by the municipal enterprise “Tatarauca Service”, established in 2012. The cost, which is paid monthly, is 10 lei per household.
As a total, 350 LED light fixtures were installed. They are operated through 13 electricity tracking devices. The length of networks is over 21 kilometers. As result of use of such modern installations, the electricity consumption costs are reduced by twice. The annual savings will amount to MDL 117,000 compared to the use of classical solutions, which are energy inefficient. The investment cost is over MDL 3.4 million. The lighting system has been functional since January 2013.
On November 22, 2013, the project on street lighting system in Tatarauca Veche, Soroca, was awarded by the Good Practice Program “Successful Models for Enhancing Energy Efficiency in the Community”. On December 6, 2013, the project was awarded at “Gala Moldova Eco Energetica” Award Ceremony under “The Best Energy Efficiency in the Public Sector Project”.
Under Energy Efficiency component, GIZ also supports another pilot project, namely enhancing energy efficiency at Orhei hospital, awarded in 2012 at “Moldova Eco Energetica” Gala as “the best public sector project”.
The “Modernization of Local Public Services in Moldova” Project is implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ and is financially supported by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Union.
