Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea has announced on Friday she will file a criminal complaint against Environment minister Costel Alexe for ‘inducing panic amongs population’ through his statement that poison is inhaled in the Capital and that Bucharesters should wear a mask to be safe.
Firea claims that the ‘value of the annual concentration allowed by the European Commission for the suspension particles, namely 40 micrograms/mc, HAS NOT been exceeded since the period 2016-2019′, exemplifying with the statistics of the Environment Ministry. However, the Environment Ministry’s measurement network has not functioned properly in the past 10 years and not all stations conducted measurements for all polluters.
“Pollution has been down in Bucharest. The Capital ranks 4th in the pollution top in Romania, after Iasi, Brasov and Cluj. No political fight can justify spreading false information that inevitably leaders to manipulating the population. Pollution has not begun during my mandate, in 2016, but a long time before, in 2008. A potential sanction by the European Commission will be given for the period 2010-2014. And, for figures don’t lie, the best proof of the results obtained in the anti-pollution fight during my mayor term is precisely the value of the annual average concentration allowed by the EC, namely 40 micrograms/mc, which has not exceeded during 2016-2019 in any of the monitoring stations in Bucharest-Ilfov region,” Firea said.
The mayor added that there are breaches of the values maximum admitted for various polluters from time to time, but they don’t jeopardize the life of citizens. “If the safety of the people were endangered, CSAT would be the first to be notified,” Firea argued.
Environment minister Costel Alexe has recently had a cross talk with Bucharest mayor, Gabriela Firea on the pollution in Bucharest.
Mayor Firea also said that the Government is partly to blame for the pollution in Bucharest for not concluding the works on the Capital’s ring road, the works of the M5 Metro line and for not modernizing power plants in the city.
Morever, Firea claims that the Environment Ministry is the one that OKs the landfills, which might be another polluter.
As for the Bucharest City Hall’s part, Firea saidit had done its job, from charging polluting cars up to revamping the car park of the Bucharest Transport Service. “We bought 400 new Euro 6 buses, 130 hybrid buses that will reach Bucharest this spring and we are in advanced talks to buy 100 trolleybuses, 100 electric buses and 100 tramways”.
Firea’s sister, chief executive of the Environment Guard’s Head
However, mass media reported that the Bucharest City Hall has never been sanctioned over pollution in the past 3 years because Gabriela Firea’s sister, Angelica Cobzaru is chief executive of the Environment Guard’s director, Gabriela Dorojan. Dorojon has resigned yesterday after a discussion with the Environment minister.
In retort, mayor Firea said her sister has two faculties and a PhD on environment protection, so she was qualified for that position.