Following the consultations held on March 17, the mayors sent an official request to the secretary general of the government, Alexei Buz, asking for changes in the concept of voluntary association of mayoralties.
Reduce theminimum number of residents from 3,000 to 2,000
The main request of the mayors is to reduce the minimum number of residents in case of unification from 3,000 to 2,000.
They argue that the distance between settlements is large, which complicates the unification procedure. At the same time, the experience of managing some communes with 3-4 villages located at a distance of 7-10 km shows that excessive expansion of the territory blocks the activity of local authorities.
The mayors also draw attention to the fact that if the threshold of 3000 inhabitants is not changed, 80% of villages in Taraclia district risk disappearing, as the distance between the villages and the future mayor’s office will exceed 45 km. At the same time, they point out that the roads connecting the villages are in poor condition and require large investments, many of them have no transportation and some of them have no grocery stores.
The census does not give an accurate picture of demography
Tatiana Turcan, mayor of Vinogradovka commune, Taraclia district, drew attention to the way the results of the population census are interpreted and used in the process of administrative-territorial reform.
She explained that the official data includes only those who wanted to participate in the census, which does not give a complete picture of demography in villages and communes. The real population of villages was higher than reflected in the census and this should be taken into account to avoid marginalization of rural settlements.
Taraclia District includes 26 settlements under the jurisdiction of 15 administrative-territorial units.
