“As a future candidate for the mayoralty of Chisinau, I want to assure you that I will continue to struggle for Chisinau to be ‘freed’ from casinos and halls with gaming machines. A responsible Mayor will think about the health and welfare of the residents of the capital city, not about the personal interests as the current administration of Chisinau does!” activist Marcel Darie, who heads the Association “Pro Chisinau”, writes on his blog (www.darie.md). He earlier announced his intention to run for the post of mayor of Chisinau, IPN reports.

Marcel Darie said there are practically no crowded crossroads or transport stations in Chisinau where there is no hall with gaming machines.

“A simple analysis shows that there are four casinos at the intersection of the streets Zelinski and Sarmisegetusa. Their clients and the clients of all the halls with gaming machines in Chisinau are mainly teens, young people and persons from socially deprived groups who are lured by the possibility of easily gaining money, but they ultimately lose everything. In fact, dependence on games of chance is similar to dependence on drugs,” says Darie.

According to the activist, namely the mayor and his team decide where the gambling machines should be placed – near apartment buildings, schools or transport stations as now or on the roadside, near forests.

“Don’t those from the Chisinau City Hall who issue authorizations for opening a casino at a street corner have children, grandchildren, cousins and neighbors who can become victims of these casinos? Don’t they see that they destroy the new generation?” asked Marcel Darie.