Street illumination set in south-east Moldova village, with USAID's support

Chisinau, 15 December /MOLDPRES/ - The only illuminated street in the village and the residents’ discontent – this is how the history of local development of the Taraclia village, Causeni district, started, when following a public opinion poll conducted in 2020, the local public authority ruled to find solutions to extend the network of street illumination in the settlement. As a result of the efforts made, in September 2021, the first project was finished, which brought street illumination on about 35 per cent of the Taraclia village’s streets, thus marking a significant moment in the community’s development.       

This project, worth 57,560 dollars in all, was carried out with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), within the partnership established with the My Community Programme ever since 2019. The project not only brought obvious benefits to the settlement through the significant extension of the street illumination system, but also stimulated the mobilization of citizens, who since then have stayed actively involved in the process of village’s development.  Besides, the project’s implementation contributed to the consolidation of the capacities of the local public administration in investments’ attraction. As a result, the mayoralty managed to get additional financing, which allowed it extending the street illumination system in almost entire village. Thus, Taraclia, although a small community, can serve as an example of efficient implementation of projects in the public illumination sector, with 95 per cent of the residents benefiting from modern street illumination at present.       

On 14 December, after four years of cooperation, a USAID delegation visited the Taraclia settlement, in order to assess, on the spot, the impact of this collaboration on the work of the mayoralty and the people’s lives. Although this represents only a part of the assistance provided to the settlement, the street illumination project became the central subject of discussion at the visit, as it not only settled a major problem in the settlement, providing efficient street illumination on 12.3 km of local streets, but also significantly contributed to the well-being and safety of almost 4,000 residents, as well as the community’s general development.     

In the context, Head of the USAID Mission Jeff Bryan said that the partnership had yielded results which exceeded the direct benefits of an infrastructure project. ‘’The USAID Agency has the commitment to back the local public authorities in their effort to meet the needs of the citizens transparently and responsibly. This effort proves that the democracy brings results and provides more opportunities to communities.  The street illumination project is an example of these efforts in action,’’ Jeff Bryan noted.    

For his part, the director of the My Community programme, Daniel Serban, said that ‘’the most important thing is the spirit of the community. Along with you, we manage to prove to everybody that people can live in Moldova, that people should come home from abroad not only on the eve of holidays.’’    

My Community is the emblematic programme of USAID in the local governance sector, implemented by the IREX organization in Moldova. The programme is meant to provide support to local public authorities in becoming more efficient, transparent and responsible before citizens. Presently, the My Community Programme cooperates with 123 mayoralties from all over Moldova, which benefit from trainings and technical assistance for improving the local public services, citizens’ involvement in the local governance and the implementation of instruments of increase in local revenues.