Protests in downtown Chisinau go on

The persons dissatisfied with the rise in water and sewerage charges and bus and trolleybus fares stage new protests in front of the City Hall. They chant: “Down with the New Tariffs”, Info-Prim Neo reports. The organizer of the protest, the NGO “Salvgardare” (“Safeguard”), said the only argument in favor of the new tariffs invoked by the mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca is that the charges in the country's districts are higher. The protesters say the mayor should solve the problems faced by Chisinau first and then worry about the residents of other settlements. The NGO's head Maia Laguta asked the deputy commissioner of Chisinau's Centru district Lilian Luca to ensure public order by forming a chain of policemen around the protesters so as to hinder them from blocking traffic, as they did yesterday. Luca told Info-Prim Neo's reporter that if more than 300 persons gather in front of the City Hall the police officers will encounter difficulties in ensuring order and the protesters will be invited to the Great National Assembly Square, where there is more space and they can demonstrate without hindering the movement of people and vehicles. Asked what will happen if the protesters refuse to leave the City Hall, Luca said that the police will intervene only of the protesters break public order by blocking traffic for example. The Chisinau Municipal Council will come together for a meeting in the afternoon to discuss and adopt the regulations concerning the payment of compensations. The protesters are dissatisfied, saying Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca promised the Council will reconsider the decision to raise the tariffs.