From May 5th, Romania started the election campaign for the local elections scheduled on June 5th. energynomics.ro proposes you in the following weeks to familiarize yourself with the most important projects of the Bucharest Mayoralty candidates, which they propose in public. We intend to bring to your attention as many parties and independent candidates as possible. We urge you to ask questions and comment upon the ideas of the candidates, when they enter into your area of expertise!
Estemeed Mr. Nicuşor Dan what are your priorities as mayor of Bucharest ?
Our program includes three levels: the functionalization of the public administration, the solving of the actual problems of Bucharest inhabitants and positioning Bucharest in the global competition.
The first level is essential. A functional public administration and fair with the citizen must be the foundation for solving all the problems of the city. Among the specific solutions at this level, I mention the introducing of specific procedures and mechanisms for the managing of documents, allowing a natural relationship between the City Hall departments, and at the same time the transparency of the entire administration stream, especially of public spending. It requires cooperation with the administrative and advising institutions so as to act on any citizen who has obtained from the municipality to do one way. As well for taxes, fines – only one way to pay them or where it can be introduce – online pay. Plus a GIS system of management information regarding parking, utility networks, maintenance contracts in the public domain and especially for roads, green spaces, construction, population records, properties and especially public properties.
On the second level we have the matter of solving problems that have dragged at city level. Regarding traffic, we’ll talk in detail below and also about solving the problem of thermal heating. We intend to reach the required number of nurseries, kindergartens and schools so that parents can leave their children in the morning and they take them after completing their program of work. Finally we want to strengthen buildings with seismic risk, knowing that an earthquake similar to that of 1977 can make thousands of deaths in Bucharest. Another objective is to stabilize green spaces, because right now two green spaces between housings are disappearing every week. We will introduce free stalls and will eliminate Mafias, to encourage producers to come to market. We intend to organize neighborhood cultural centers and free sport court networks, including school playing fields, so anyone can make free sport.
Finally, positioning Bucharest in the global competition. We want to define Bucharest as a big regional academic center, as a regional pole in IT and creative industries.
District heating is one of the urgent problems of the capital, one in which the role of the City Hall is extremely important. How will you prepare for the winter of 2016 and what are the future plans (3-4 years) in order to defuse this issue? Specifically, what is the future of RADET?
We propose restoring almost entirely the heat production and distribution system, local plants destined to serve 10-20 housings blocks within the existing substations. The cost is one billion euros, of which 180 million euros in European money. The efficiency is double than the current system, we will not have to pay 150 million euros subsidy every year. It is a project that can be accomplished in six years.
A definition of vulnerable consumers is delayed to be implemented at national level (and European). So far, the City Hall has assumed some form of support for the people who have difficulty paying bills. Does that formula seem reasonable ? Do you intend to change it in any way ?
A certain vulnerable consumer protection is necessary, but we cannot have a strategy before a real assessment of these consumers, and no assessment can be made until after the management information system of which I spoke earlier.
Seen as an optimal solution a few years ago, the enveloping of apartment blocks is today hotly contested and, anyway, almost blocked in the absence of a viable financing system. What is your solution for the reduction of energy costs, first at the level of estates on which the City Hall has ownership, but also for the thousands of housing units in the city?
I am all for the envelopment of the apartment blocks, reducing the heat consumption is as important as reducing the cost of production and distribution of thermal energy. There are three technical subjects: the materials used, for which there is currently no control, quality of work, too, and the price of work, nontransparent and well above the market price. Heat enveloping must be supported, I cannot give figures for the time being because it is not clear want amount of money the government will allocate and in what amount are the European money that we can access.
Microgeneration and the distributed production close to the place of consumption are two trends of the future, globally. Do you plan to support such developments in Bucharest, for the production of electricity and heat ? How? (Solar panels, photovoltaic, biomass power stations, something else).
The neighborhood plants I was talking about will operate in cogeneration. Regarding the alternative energy sources, I am a supporter in principle, but they are for now more expensive than natural gas and our urgency for now is to have a functional system of production and distribution and especially to avoid paying 150 million as subsidies annually.
The transportation of goods and people in the capital is the main source of pollution (harmful gases, noise etc) and stress for the Bucharest inhabitants. Mobility difficulties hinder the faster developing areas and increase the costs for businesses and citizens. What is your plan for a much fluent and less toxic traffic? What place does the electric mobility – train, bus, car sharing, electric cars and fueling stations for these – have in these plans?
The completion of the ring road with two lanes is a priority, whereas 30% of the traffic in Bucharest is a transit traffic. One solution is a partnership with CNADNR and the financial contribution of the City Hall to solve these problems critical for Bucharest. We must put in place a system of traffic management and correlation between the traffic management system and GPS systems on buses, trolleybuses, trams, to give them priority at intersections. We have at our hand 130 million euros as European money for the suface transport fleet and we want to introduce a single ticket RATB-Metrorex, to enable charges no matter how many transportation vehicles you change. The objective is to have a predictable schedule for the surface transport and make the public transport a serious alternative to the transport by car.
Finally, the cities of the future are smart and green, which means energy efficiency, energy production from renewable resources, interconnection and remote control between basic systems (including energy). How long will it take to present to Bucharest inhabitants a concrete action plan for Bucharest – Smart City?
We talked about a GIS system covering several levels of administration, a system that we want functional within two years, maybe faster. Its implementation depends on what we find in the institutions and departments that want to take over the information. The idea of ”Bucharest – Smart City” depends on how much public information we send, in accessible formats, and I am a big supporter of the submission of all the possible information.
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On June 5th, 12 persons will candidate for the Bucharest City Hall. They are registered on the ballot as it follows:
- Mirel Amariţei – ProDemo
- Daniel Barbu – ALDE
- Cătălin Berenghi – independent
- Nicuşor Dan – USB
- Bogdan Diaconu – PRU
- Petrică Dima – PSRO
- Gabriela Firea – PSD-UNPR
- Iulia Gorea-Costin – PNŢCD
- Niculae Neamţu – Republican Party
- Cătălin Predoiu – PNL
- Adrian Severin – PDS
- Robert Turcescu – PMP