The inauguration ceremony of the downtown in Edinet, renovated and equipped for German funds, through MSIF within the framework of the "Social Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency" Project, took place on the June 1, 2017. The event was attended by the Deputy Head of the German Embassy in Moldova, Florian Seitz, the representative of the German KfW Bank in Moldova, Sergiu Guţu, the Executive Director of MSIF, Mircea Esanu, representatives of local and central public authorities, residents and guests of the town.
During the event, the Deputy Head of the German Embassy in Moldova and the Primar of Edinet have cut the ribbon at the opening of the informative plaque of the Project. After the official part, several performance ensembles from Edinet presented an artistic program. The artistic program included songs and poetry recited in German, especially for guests from the Embassy of this country.
"I am glad that the Federal Republic of Germany has made its contribution to the development of your town so that it became even more prosperous. On behalf of the German Embassy and myself, I would like to congratulate all children on the International Children’s Day, but also on the new place in the downtown, where they now can play safely, walk, run, do everything that usually does a kid. The arrangement of this part of the town became possible thanks to the "Social Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency" Project, very important for my country, Germany. In total, about 10 million euros have been invested in the development of rural communities in Moldova," said Florian Seitz, the Deputy Head of the German Embassy in Moldova.
Around 150,000 euros (3.076.232 lei) were allocated for the renovation and improvement of the pedestrian area in Edineţ town. Sidewalks in the downtown were paved, curbstones and resting benches were installed in the "Stefan cel Mare" square, the street lighting network was built, and lighting pylons and lighting fixtures were installed for this money.
The Executive Director of the Moldova Social Investment Fund, Mircea Esanu, called on townsmen of Edinet to enjoy and preserve the results of works carried out, but also to continue to implement improvements in other areas of the town. "A town, first of all, involves civilization. In addition to social institutions - kindergarten, town hall, economic agents, we would like the town to be comfortable for its own townsmen, to have as high level of development as possible. Today, having a walk down here, we saw many mums with the children in pushchairs, they were smoothly walking on these new sidewalks, we saw disabled people in wheelchairs, who also walked smoothly on the renovated sidewalks. This makes our life more comfortable here, at home," said Mircea Esanu.
Previously, sidewalks have not been repaired since the Soviet era and, consequently, have been deteriorated. Deteriorated sidewalks were complicating circulation of pedestrians, children’s pushchairs, people with special needs and cyclists.
The representative of the German KfW Bank in Moldova, Sergiu Guţu,called on children to keep the light of childhood in their souls for life. "Today we have an extraordinary opportunity to launch a social project, which will benefit all townsmen of Edinet, all guests, including the small children. I want to highlight a very good collaboration at the level of its implementation between the Social Investment Fund and the local public authority; and to point out that any community development must first come from the community, because the townsmen and country people are the best experts in identifying problems and solutions for them. Let this project be a good start for a sustainable development of Edinet," Sergiu Guţu said.
Beneficiaries of the Project are all the townsmen of Edinet rayon, as the majority of the rayon institutions providing social services are located in this area: the post office, local public administration, 27 social-cultural institutions, 2 large medical institutions, 5 pharmacies, over 50 legal entities, the Vasile Alecsandri Public Garden, a market and the "Stefan cel Mare si Sfant" square.
Mayor of Edinet, Constantin Cojocaru, said: "The project we started a little over a year ago here, in Edinet, shows us that together we can do beautiful things. Edinet City Hall came up with 30% of the project's value, which made us even more responsible. On behalf of the entire community, we thank German partners, the Social Investment Fund of Moldova. Altogether, hand-to-hand, soul to soul, from idea to idea, wehave been able to move the car forward. Let it be a good augury for all of us, for the Republic of Moldova."
Information about the project
Construction and installation works were carried out within the framework of the "Social Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency" Project, financed under the German Financial Co-operation through the KfW Development Bank and implemented by the Moldova Social Investment Fund. The Project involves investments in social infrastructure (water supply, sewerage, schools, kindergartens, roads, etc.), focusing on energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources, in 10 regions in the North of Moldova and in post-conflict regions of Transnistria. MSIF has implemented 89 sub-projects in social infrastructure with the use of energy-efficient technologies for funds from the € 5m grant provided by KfW.
