The Third Meeting of the Regional Sectorial Committee in the Field of Water Supply and Sewerage Held in the Development Region South

The members of the Regional Sectorial Committee in the field of Water Supply and Sewerage (RSC WSS) from the Development Region South, created with the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation support within the” Modernization of the Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova” MLPS project, had the third meeting on Tuesday, 19 June, in Cimișlia.

The event was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, members and specialists of the RSC / WSS working group, GIZ/MLPS advisors and RDA South specialists.

Mr Veverița Petru, National Senior Advisor on Regional Planning and Programming at GIZ / MSPL, welcomed the participants and noted that the institution he represents is open to provide necessary support to the committee to be functional and achieve its purpose.

Mrs Ludmila Gofman, GIZ expert, presented the Report on Current Situation of the Region South in the field of Water Supply and Sewerage, based on the results of completed questionnaires by the local public authorities of the II-nd level and WSS operators from the region. In conclusion, the expert recommended to pay particular attention to the veracity of the collected data, because investments are effective only if they address to the real problems of the sector.

Mrs Serafima Tronza, senior consultant in MARDE's Directorate of Integrated Management of Water Resources Policy, presented to the audience the launched projects in the Development Region South, financed by National Ecological Fund (NEF) and talked about the issues that arise in their implementation process. The MARDE representative also made some recommendations regarding the eligible concepts of projects for NEF and answered to the questions of the participants at the meeting.

Mrs Serafima Tronza also talked about the advantages and disadvantages of organizational and legal forms of WSS operators in regionalizing the process of providing services.

The members of the meeting also examined a case study on the regionalization of the WSS service:  "Apă Canal Cahul" JSC, presented by Mr Sergiu Plesca, GIZ regional advisor.

After this, the members of the Committee got acquainted with the RSC WSS Activity Plan for the second semester of the year and they approved it. This one was developed according to suggestions and proposals made by RSC members during the first two ordinary meeting.

RSC WSS was created on June 29, 2017, by Decision No. 2/03 of the RDC South. At the same meeting, the RDC South approved the Rules of Procedure for the created structure. The Committee's functionality will be provided by the RDA South, with the "Modernization of the Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova" (MLPS) project support, implemented by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ), financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Government of Romania, the Government of Sweden and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The RSC SWM will debate draft decisions, will draft recommendations to be presented later at the RDC South meetings. The Committee have the task of examining and approving the priorities of regional development in the field of WSS, promoting regional projects among donors and investors, examining, with the support of independent experts, the project portfolio, various studies, analyses and recommendations for crystallizing a regional vision on sector development.