“Children in Sudarca were the first to get involved in changing the local mentality regarding waste management”

There are 852 households in Sudarca commune, and each of them inevitably produces waste. Until recently, there were at least 7 unauthorized landfills in the commune. One of the largest was on the site of a former silo storage pit of the former local kolkhoz.

“The garbage problem in our commune was a rather painful problem for us. What we could do on our own was to clean up the piles of garbage dumped unauthorized every spring, especially along the ravine, the creek, and the water pond in the village. Every spring we used to organize sanitation days with the voluntary participation of the villagers and high school students. Unfortunately, after a while, the garbage always reappeared. And not even the imposed fines, did not stop the disrespectful residents from throwing garbage at random. Of course, not only the residents are to blame, but the lack of a municipal waste management service also put us in such a situation. We now hope that with the help of the MĂ IMPLIC project we will be able to create a modern and sustainable solid waste management service at affordable prices for the residents. We have experience in managing projects with international assistance, this way we managed to illuminate the streets of the village, soon we will create the community water delivery service and once the garbage problem in the commune is solved, we will live like in a city.” – said Mr. Anatolie Lisnic, the mayor of Sudarca commune.

Sudarca municipality applied and became a partner of the project MĂ IMPLIC, thanks to the perseverance and dedication of the local high school principal. Ms. Natalia Zaiaț says that the idea came to her after talking with her students on the topic of environmental protection. The children enthusiastically participated in the garbage collection in their village, but when they saw the garbage reappear, they were extremely disappointed. A change in mentality was needed in the community. Alone, the students took the initiative to educate the community to keep the village clean and to understand the negative consequences of throwing out garbage in unauthorized places. It was the children who became the initiators of new changes and promoted the idea among the elders.

The mayor of Sudarca municipality, Mr. Anatolie Lisnic, hopes that by their example they will be able to inspire other localities in the region and that citizens will be the ones who will bring the change and will involve in the development of their communities.

In the period 2021-2023, the commune Sudarca will implement a project aimed to improve the solid waste management service, with the support of the Project “MĂ IMPLIC”, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by SKAT Consulting. Following the signed agreement, the LPA will benefit from funding (maximum 65,000 CHF), consulting, and capacity building services. The Project “MĂ IMPLIC” will help the LPA and the service provider not only to improve the infrastructure but also to develop long-term approaches to keep this infrastructure in good shape and to have sustainable models for financing the provision of services. In our work, we will ensure that local citizens, employees of LPAs, NGOs, economic agents are actively involved in modernizing public services in the community and especially that the less advantaged have equal access to these services.