Moldovan president's message at Mayors' Forum

Chisinau, Dec. 9 /MOLDPRES/- Human mayors instead of chief mayors - that's what the residents of any village are waiting for. This work must be properly paid. President Maia Sandu made the statement at Mayors' Forum.

The President delivered a speech to the mayors, and urged them to work hard for their communities and asked the government to find funds to increase the salaries of the mayors.

"All 895 elected mayors were invited to this event. More than 1,200,000 people have decided who will be responsible for the future of the localities in which they live. I'm glad that 215 women were elected to mayor positions. I congratulate them for the courage to assume the role of leaders of their communities. Our meeting today has this objective - how we build a partnership between all levels of government to fulfill this collective responsibility. We understand very well the importance of partnership, collaboration. Now, more than ever, we can move Moldova forward only through partnership. We are at a historic moment in our evolution as a state. During this period, Moldova defines its role in the world and, through what we all do, we decide what kind of country we are building for ourselves and for future generations. A country where people feel safe, work is valued, young people have opportunities at home and everyone has decent conditions, here at home. They are the things we see in European towns. Our mission to become a member state of the European Union comes to fulfill precisely these wishes.

Three years ago, I made a public commitment to all the mayors in our country. I promised to respect and advocate for the independence of the APL - and I continue to pursue that mission. The Public Administration Reform Strategy for the period 2023-2030 was adopted, which includes two important instruments for strengthening the capacities of APL. The first of these is the Law on the Voluntary Amalgamation of Administrative-Territorial Units, duplicated by the related Methodology, which establishes the criteria and conditions for voluntary amalgamation. We have also made progress in regulating the process of setting up intercommunity development associations. These initiatives are essential for ensuring the good functioning of the local public administration and for promoting the sustainable development of our communities, including in the perspective of accessing European funds in the period leading up to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. There was also an unprecedented openness from the central administration to the needs of the communities. For example, the Law on electricity was amended, in response to the requests of the local public administration authorities regarding the guarantee of the right to use the infrastructure of the electricity distribution system free of charge. A normative act is being promoted that will expressly establish the attributions of APL, in the context of the decentralization of activities related to road transport in district and local traffic. In order to strengthen the institutionalized dialogue between the APC and the APL, the activity of the joint commission for decentralization was resumed and sectoral working groups were established", the head of state said.

She said that in recent years, the correct allocation of budget resources for financing projects and attracting external funds for these purposes has also been carried out. "Through the European Village Program, a total of 496 projects were financed throughout the country, with a total investment value of approximately 1.8 billion lei. Government launched the Express European Village Program, thanks to which 399 municipalities were able to implement local development projects worth about 172 million lei", concluded the president.

All 895 elected mayors were invited to today's forum. The event is organized by the government in collaboration with the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova, under the auspices of President Maia Sandu.