Compact Moldova - mca.gov.mdmca.gov.md/upload/Compact Moldova_february_2013_eng_392_54.pdf · 2013...
Transcript of Compact Moldova - mca.gov.mdmca.gov.md/upload/Compact Moldova_february_2013_eng_392_54.pdf · 2013...
On February 5, 2013, the Millennium Challenge Account Moldova opened six
bids submitted by companies from France, Portugal, Romania and Austria for
the rehabilitation of the Criuleni and Lopatna irrigation systems in the rayons of
Criuleni and Orhei, respectively, with Millennium Challenge Compact funds.
The financial bids for the rehabilitation of the two irrigation systems range from
about 8 to 26 million USD. Experienced national and international experts have
already started reviewing the bids against criteria such as experience in similar
works, financial and technical capacity, and available equipment and staff.
According to MCA Moldova requirements, the winning construction company
will rehabilitate the central irrigation systems by replacing about 85% of the
pipes, restoring the premises of the pump stations and providing automated
equipment, replacing the asbestos-made pipes with modern high-density plastic
pipes compliant with the European Union’s environmental standards. The
construction works are expected to start this spring and last 18 months.
In the meantime, the review of the eight proposals submitted for the construction
supervision of the two irrigation systems is underway. The rehabilitation of these
systems will allow for the expansion of the irrigated areas in Lopatna from 50 to
509 ha, and in Criuleni from 120 to about 760 ha.
"COMPACT seeks to
contribute to poverty
reduction in the Republic of Moldova
through economic growth"
Newsletter, February, 2013
HEADING FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH
Compact Moldova
N. Iorga str., 21, MD-2012;
mun. Chişinău, Republica Moldova;
tel.: +373 22 85 22 99;
fax: +373 22 85 22 94;
e-mail: [email protected]; www.mca.gov.md
Six bids were submitted for the rehabilitation of the
Criuleni and Lopatna irrigation systems funds
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The farmers will be able to use as much irrigation
water as they need, when they need it, and due to
improved water metering and reduction of water
losses they will pay only for the amount of water
that they use.
Based on Moldova’s fresh fruit taste and a
distinctive booth design, Moldova received a very
positive response from buyers and traders at the
2013 Fruit Logistica show, the largest fresh
produce trade show in Europe. Moldova displayed
and provided samples of apples and dried fruit
during this three-day event in Berlin. The
Moldovan ambassador to Germany, Aureliu
Ciocoi, visited the booth and encouraged his
compatriots to embrace the quality practices
prevalent in the west and increase their efforts to
enter the European markets.
The Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise
Development Project (ACED), funded by the
United States Agency for International
Development and the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, in collaboration with the United
Nations Development Programme’s Improving
Trade and Productive Capacities of Moldovan
Fresh Fruit Producers Project, provided support to
Moldovan fruit producers for a first-ever exhibit at
this important international trade show.
Moldova showcased their high-value agriculture
(HVA) products under the slogan “taste makes the
difference” and was represented at the show by
farmers, producer groups, producer associations,
donor projects, and the Moldovan Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Industry.
At a follow-up meeting in Chisinau, the Moldovan
participants agreed to coordinate their activities in
order to catch up with the latest innovations in
fresh fruit production and improve their quality to
meet the European requirements. They also asked
ACED to continue its training program in fruit
production and marketing techniques and to
Moldova Makes a Splash at Europe’s Premier Fresh Produce Trade Show
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continue support for the participation of Moldova
in international trade shows. “We need to keep a
strong hold on Russia, start selling in Romania and
other neighbouring countries, and think of the
Baltic and Scandinavian markets in the near term,”
said one participant when describing his marketing
strategy.
The status of the Compact irrigation sector reform
activities in 2012 and the priorities for 2013 were
addressed at the Annual Conference of the Water
Users’ Associations (WUA) on February 15.
The conference was attended by the representatives
of 11 Water Users Associations established in the
areas of the irrigation systems to be rehabilitated
with Compact funds, representatives of the central
and local governments engaged in the reformation
of the irrigation sector, NGOs and mass media.
The participants learned about the actions taken to
build the capacities of WUAs and improve the
administrative and legislative framework required
for their efficient operation. Eleven WUAs were
It was also noted that market diversification is
necessary because Russia, which is currently the
largest consumer of Moldovan fruit, is looking for
alternative supplies of fresh produce, and Poland
has now become the biggest supplier of apples to
Russia.
established in 2012 in compliance with Law No.
171 on Water Users’ Associations for irrigation.
Their members are over 6700 agricultural
producers who work about 15.5 thousand hectares
of farmland in the areas of those eleven Central
Irrigation Systems.
Also, in 2012 the members and the management
and executive bodies of WUAs (Administration
Boards, executive directors, accountants and
operators) received training meant to build the
institutional and managerial skills required
following the transfer of the management of the
irrigation systems from the technological stations
of the State Agency “Apele Moldovei” to WUAs.
The WUA members also received training in
specific areas such as bookkeeping and accounting,
irrigation management, water user’s registries,
technical operation of the irrigation systems, and
they were introduced to the reformation
experiences of Portugal and Poland.
In order to make sure that WUAs are operational,
seven WUAs (Agro Rufeni – SCI Lopatna, Jorile –
SCI Jora de Jos, Agroacvila – SCI Roscani, Acva
Grup – SCI Puhaceni, Pruteni II – SCI Grozesti,
Criuleni – SCI Criuleni, and Cosnita – SCI
Cosnita) have already been provided with office
furniture and equipment, and accounting software.
In her address at the conference, Valentina
Badrajan, the Executive Director of MCA
Moldova, said that Moldovan agriculture will be
competitive on the Eastern and Western markets
only when the agricultural producers will form
associations.
The status and outlook of the irrigation sector reform started under the Compact program were addressed at a conference
4
In February 2013 the Water Users’ Associations
started holding their annual General Assemblies.
Meetings of the General Assemblies have already
been held by 7 out of the 11 associations
established with the Compact support.
At these meetings WUAs approved their
performance reports and work plans for 2013,
made amendments to the charters and internal
regulations, discussed the provisions of the
management transfer agreements which will
govern the transfer of the management of the
central irrigation systems from the „Apele
Moldovei” State Agency to WUAs, set the annual
membership fees and the price per cubic meter of
water, and addressed other issues related to the
efficient operation of WUAs. These meetings are
also a community exercise meant to enhance and
explore the development opportunities, and take
responsibilities in the irrigation sector reformation
process.
In terms of the development opportunities, the
WUA members were informed about the Compact
Post-Harvest Credit Facility. Today these credits
are meant only for the agricultural producers and
groups of producers, cooperatives, associations,
exporters and other players in the agriculture value
chain operating in the areas of the irrigation
systems (Criuleni, Orhei, Anenii Noi, Dubasari,
Nisporeni, Ungheni, Leova and Cahul rayons) or
from other rayons in Moldova, but with emphasis
on investments in the above-mentioned rayons.
Businesses owned or managed by women are
highly encouraged to take Credit Facility loans.
According to the law on water users’ associations,
the General Assembly is responsible for defining
the WUA’s main directions of activity, amending
its regulation, revising the borders of the command
area, electing and dismissing Board members,
setting the amounts to be paid by the WUA
members and non-members, and other issues.
The Water Users’ Associations have agreed on priorities for 2013
5
Ion Plamadeala, Chairman of the ”Acva-Grup”
Water Users’ Association
What have you managed to do since your WUA
was established? What are your expectations
from it?
The year of 2012 was a year full of responsibilities.
Fortunately, we have managed to hold association
organization meetings, approve the work plan and
budget, elect the administration boards with
members from all the three villages covered by the
irrigation system – Puhaceni, Delacau and Serpeni.
Our office has been equipped with the MCA
Moldova support.
I would also like to mention the training that we
received in technical issues related to the
management of irrigation equipment. We provided
recommendations to the design of the irrigation
system, including the location of the tertiary
system, which will facilitate the access of water
users to the irrigation hydrants. Our wishes were
considered when developing the technical
parameters with further revision of the design
documents. We have high expectations and hopes.
We are quite positive and we are trying to be
consistent in terms of what we do in the
Association.
Are you ready to take over the management of
irrigation systems? What are, in your view, the
benefits of, and impediments to, this process?
In 2012 we completed the inspection of the
irrigation system and we are ready to take
responsibility for managing it. We discussed the
provisions of the transfer management agreement
that will govern the transfer. I admit that we will
need some other training in WUA management,
and in technical administration of irrigation.
Following the inspection, we will manage only the
functional equipment; the damaged equipment will
not be accepted. The management of all the
technical installations, including the facilities of
pump stations and other facilities of the central
irrigation system, is expected to be transferred to
our association for a 30-year period. This is a test
of responsibility that we hope to pass.
What are the major challenges for the WUA in
2013?
It is critical that we share the available information
with all the WUA members. We are a large
association with more than two thousand members.
The sector representatives have a huge amount of
work to do. During the meetings with the 50-70
landowners in every sector they must manage to
discuss the annual membership fees and the price
per cubic meter of water for irrigation.
We first believed that it would be difficult to
collect the membership fees, but now I can say that
it was not so hard and that the people demonstrated
discipline. That is what is required of us –
discipline and hard work.
What does your WUA need in order to continue
to develop?
Starting something is always difficult. Once we
agreed on the logistical arrangements for the WUA
operation, we obviously wanted it to develop.
Hopefully we will enjoy support, receive
appropriate training and our views will be heard.
Most of all I wish that the members of our WUA
understand how critical our inputs are for the
successful implementation of the irrigation system
rehabilitation project, which has been much
anticipated.
6
Nicolae Plamadeala, Director of the”Acva-Grup”
WUA
What can you say about the performance of
your association?
Two years after its establishment, I can say that our
WUA is functional and we have put in place
practices to debate issues and make decisions. I
believe that in the future it will be much easier for
us to agree on issues related to the irrigation
system management.
The people must understand that the rehabilitation
of the irrigation system will provide many benefits,
including attractive land prices and the possibility
of increased income from agriculture.
What motivates a young person to become
involved in the development of an irrigation
association and to take on such a responsibility?
The decision to stay in my native village and try to
do something here is not a challenge. It was driven
by family circumstances. I mean that I have to help
my father in growing vegetables and I am
responsible for marketing the produce.
I also have a technical education and I can use my
knowledge in the technical management of
irrigation equipment.
Larisa Ciobanu, member of the Board of the ”Acva
Grup” WUA, and an accountant
A WUA cannot exist without a budget. Defining
the budget and its management entails
responsibility…
Our association has approved the 2013 budget. It is
not big, but it represents a compromise – it is able
to meet the needs of the WUA yet not to be too
burdensome for the WUA members.
Are the members committed, are they willing to
provide funds for WUA development?
The people definitely demonstrate responsibility in
paying the membership fees. They sometimes even
stay in queue to pay. I truly want to believe that
they are aware of the benefits.
We are facing some challenges given the large
number of members who own small land plots and
these circumstances do cause some problems. I
believe that for an efficient management of funds
in the WUA, in general, both the land and the
people should be consolidated.
7
In March 2013 MCA Moldova, together with its
contractors, will start a large road safety campaign
in the localities crossed by the Sarateni-Soroca
road. Therefore, over 2000 people from 14 villages
will receive training in road safety.
The key purpose of the training is to prevent and
mitigate risks and injuries, deaths, and damages
that might be caused to the car drivers, passengers
and pedestrians. It should be noted that similar
activities will be carried out both during and after
the rehabilitation works, thus ensuring
sustainability in compliance with the road safety
requirements.
To facilitate the sharing of information, trainers
from the local communities will be prepared as
instructors so as to be able to deliver training to
different categories of population in these
localities. The training sessions will also contain
two modules dedicated to children and pupils,
designed based on the peculiarities of juvenile
behavior and psychology.
The children and teachers at school and
kindergarten will learn to comply with the road
traffic rules, and will receive relevant materials,
including reflective tapes that can be imprinted on
clothes or bags. The road safety campaign will also
entail publishing outreach materials targeting
children, adults, drivers of low-speed vehicles and
animal-drawn carts.
All the campaign activities are laid down in the
social and environmental plans – documents
required by the Millennium Challenge Corporation
from the companies engaged in the rehabilitation
and infrastructure works. These plans lay down
actions and events meant to ensure compliance
with the social and environmental requirements of
the Road Rehabilitation Project implemented by
MCA Moldova.
The children and adults from the localities crossed by the Sarateni-Soroca road will receive road safety training
8
The rehabilitation works on the Sarateni-Soroca
road funded through the Millennium Challenge
Compact will largely be carried out in 2013. Also
this year the most complex associated works will
start, such as building of five bridges, including the
grade separation at Sarateni, relocation of the
railway bridge next to the town of Ghindesti, and
reconstruction of Soroca’s bypass road damaged by
landslides.
According to the road rehabilitation contracts
signed for the 93-km Sarateni-Soroca road
segment, the latter is expected to be fully
rehabilitated by June 2014.
Both the consortium of Turkish companies ONUR
and SUMMA, and the Austrian company Strabag,
have mobilized and are ready to start the
rehabilitation works once the weather allows for it.
The consortium of the Turkish companies has
about 130 items of equipment, including trucks,
bulldozers, excavators, light towers, rollers, soil
compactors, emulsion plant, dump trucks, and
mobile cranes. In September it put an asphalt plant
into operation, with a capacity of 280 tons per
hour.
This winter the consortium ONUR and SUMA
procured about 70 thousand tons of construction
materials, such as sand, pebble, gravel and granite,
and employed about 120 workers, 63 of whom are
from Moldova, and the others from Turkey.
Strabag, the Austrian company, in turn, has
mobilized its equipment and team to start the
rehabilitation works, and is expected to put its
asphalt plant into operation by the end of March.
According to the contracts signed with MCA
Moldova, the Turkish consortium ONUR and
SUMMA will rehabilitate a 44.9-km road segment
starting at the Sarateni junction and stretching to
the entrance to the town of Ghindesti, and will
build the grade separation at Sarateni, while
Strabag AG will rehabilitate a 48.1-km road
segment from the entrance to Ghindesti to the
Drochia junction (R7 and R9 junction).
The rehabilitation works on the Sarateni-Soroca road will largely be carried out in 2013
9
The Institute of Zoology of the Academy of
Sciences of Moldova formulated several
recommendations for the Water Users’
Associations meant to reduce the impact of
irrigation on the fauna in the Nistru and Prut Rivers
in a recent ichthyologic study commissioned by the
Millennium Challenge Account Moldova. The
survey also estimated the damage expected to be
caused to the river fauna by the rehabilitation of
the irrigation systems.
The construction companies contracted to
rehabilitate the irrigation systems Blindesti (Prut)
and Jora de Jos (Nistru) are expected to pay for the
damages caused to the fish population through
works like excavation around the suction pipes in
the riverbeds. The impact of the excavation works
on the fish and fish food is expected to amount to
73 thousand lei to be paid by the construction
companies.
The compensations paid for the damages caused by
the construction works will be transferred to the
Fishery Service, according to low. The
Fishery Service will then use these funds to grow
fish fries and put them back into the rivers.
The local experts also recommend that the Water
Users’ Associations check the filtration capacity of
the fish protection structure during the
rehabilitation of the irrigation systems. Appropriate
mitigation measures will minimize the damage
caused to the fish population by water intakes and
will help evaluate the protection level and identify
the measures necessary to protect the water
resources and maintain the environmental balance.
According to an ichthyologic and hydrobiologic
study, all actions that have an impact on the water
fauna require consultation with the State Fishery
Service, as stipulated in the law on fishery and
fishing.
No survey of this kind has been conducted since
the 1980s, while application of the
recommendations made by researchers will help
prevent possible natural disasters with adverse
impacts on the ecosystem.
Rehabilitation of the irrigation systems will focus on the protection of fish and plants in the Nistru and Prut Rivers
The newsletter is produced by the Millennium Challenge Account Moldova.
The information provided in this newsletter does not represent the views or positions of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation or the US Government.