What the newspapers say: February 23, 2011

The construction of one of the most important highways linking Arad to Timisoara in West Romania is blocked by an avalanche of trials from land owners who ask huge sums of money for their lands that are about to be paid off by the state. Elsewhere in the news, Romania’s Foreign Affairs ministry counts on big Libyan companies to attend the evacuation of their Romanian employees. One newspaper wonder how the Interior minister can be reformed as the President declared yesterday that sticking out one’s finger hits corruption elements.

Evenimentul Zilei reads on Wednesday that the highway linking Arad to Timisoara, in West Romania is blocked by local land owners who ask for huge sums of money for their lands. The best example, the newspaper reads is that of a businessman in Timis Adrian Luca that claims over 400 euro/square meter from the state for several lands nearby Arad.

Experts say that the land in that area is not worth more than 30 euro/square meter. The businessman has sued the state to obtain higher revenues from the state. First he sued the state dissatisfied with the 600,000 euro he was supposed to receive for 36,000 square meters and asked for 18.5 million euro.

The other trial regards a land of 45,654 square acres nearby Arad’s beltway for which Luca asked 22 million euro. Local Arad Court ruled that the businessman should receive 4.1 million euro and the company whose experts said this last sum is too much as well, appealed the decision.

The state’s documents reveal that if some owners received 19 euro/square meter others received even 120 euro/square meters.

Evenimentul Zilei reads that there are about 500 Romanian citizens in Libya and most of them in the dessert still, far from the capital and without the possibility to leave the area or the country. The newspaper reads that Romania’s Foreign Affairs ministry counts on the fact that Libyan companies who employed Romanians will evacuate them.

Foreign Affairs ministry officials said that there were 450 consular assistance requests and 220 requests on information how to leave the country. 80 Romanians already returned to Romania in the past days.

Romania libera reads about possible ways to reform the Interior and Finance ministries that according to the President are drowned in corruption elements. The President declared at a public event that there was never a real reform in the two ministries. The newspaper wonders if there are any chances to reform the two ministries and if there are, who should do it. The President said that the systemic corruption in ministries took off with the political influences over functions.

The newspaper reads that the reformation recipe was given by the President himself who said that there is need for a man on man evaluation starting with those in high positions in the ministry to the police officers is villages. According to the law, Interior ministry evaluations have pyramidal system and the main evaluator is the direct chief of police officers or of the public servant in the ministry.

The evaluations are complemented by evaluations of the Interior Ministry’s secret service, DGIPI that needs to discover links with organized crime and corruption acts in the ministry. Also, DGIPI gives reviews for every new employee taken on board or for every promotion in the ministry which, according to the newspapers makes the service very important.