At public hearings organized by the Parliamentary Commission for the Control of Public Finance, it was noted that the national legislation in the field of construction does not provide for a certification procedure for such facilities.
As explained by the state secretary of the Interior Ministry, Victor Grosu, the ministry, together with other specialized institutions, is working on updating the regulatory framework related to air navigation.
Representatives of the General Inspectorate of Emergency Situations of the Interior Ministry specified that the construction of heliports was initiated by the Romanian side within the SMURD-2 project. The SMURD helicopter, which has been carrying out missions in Moldova since May 2015, is able to land on unprepared terrain, but special conditions are needed for the quick and safe transportation of patients – especially children and seriously ill patients. For this reason, it was decided to build one heliport in Cahul, designed for night flights; two in Chisinau, near the Mother and Child Center and the Republican Hospital; and one in Balti municipality, near the regional hospital under construction. All sites are technically ready, but cannot be put into operation without certification.
The Romanian government guarantees the provision of SMURD services to Moldova free of charge, and patients can be transported to both Moldovan and Romanian medical facilities. In 2016-2017, SMURD flights were performed weekly, now – approximately once every 3-4 months.
Adrian Lebedinschi, chairman of the Public Finance Control Commission, suggested drafting a separate bill: “The logic is this – you can’t invest money so that the facilities simply collapse; you must first create the necessary legal conditions. And it turns out that we built them a few years ago, they are standing and being destroyed, and whether we like it or not – we will have to spend money on their maintenance, and the regulatory framework does not allow you to use them. Then what were they built for?”.
