Govt Denies Aid To Landslide Hit Area, Locals Outraged

Starting Saturday, seven homes were destroyed in the landslide and 12 people were evacuated. Other homes are still in danger of being wrecked, as on Thursday morning the land was sliding 30 centimeters an hour.

 

Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Wednesday that preliminary data provided by the Interior Ministry regarding the situation of locals in Mateesti indicate they have received state aid to rebuild their homes in the past, therefore the government denied any further financial aid.

 

"This is not the first time the mine debris wrecks their homes and they have received money to rebuild their homes in the past. We cannot grant financial aid twice for the same home, in which the locals chose to remain to live instead of taking it down to build another elsewhere," Tariceanu said.

 

Mayor Stanisor said the government refuses to grant aids citing the fact that the locals received such compensations 30 years ago. He added that at that time, the locals were not compensated properly, but were merely helped to survive, not to build homes. “Moreover,” the mayor said, “the locals were then forced to leave the area and now they have to suffer because the mining debris heap was not secured properly.”

 

The mayor added other families cannot be evacuated, as there is no land to be put at their disposal and because the government refused to grant financial aid.