State suffers losses because of chaos in transport, expert

The state suffers losses because of the chaos in the transport sector, especially in passenger transportation. The taxes projected from transportation activity are not collected into the budget and the image of the authorities is damaged, said economic expert Viorel Chivriga. He has told Info-Prim Neo that some of the carriers complain that the situation becomes uncontrollable and the sector is in a deep crisis. “There are also honest carriers, but many carriers work illegally and cause damage to the budget. It is a serious problem here. There is disloyal competition. Nobody checks the tickets. An example is the situation in Morenii Noi, when 50 persons got onto a bus that does not have such a capacity and many of them died in an accident,” said the expert. According to Viorel Chivriga, the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure is justly criticized because the situation is disastrous not only on the national, but also on the international routes. Policies are needed to remedy the situation in the field. The expert was asked by Info-Prim Neo to pronounce on a case that happened in Japca, Floresti. Several weeks ago, the driver working on the Japca-Chisinau route asked the passengers to pay a double price for the trip as he chose a longer, bypassing road as the usual one was impassable because of snowdrifts. The passengers found out that they must pay more on the way, while the tickets distributed by the driver were for a lower price. Deputy Minister of Transport Boris Gherasim said the driver acted illegally, but morally he had the right to ask for more money as he incurred larger costs and could not cover the costs himself. However, the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure launched an internal inquiry and the driver received a severe reprimand.