Romanian authorities fail to use EUR 24 mln center for emergency situations

The building that hosts the Centre for the Integrated Management for Emergency Situations, which will bring together all the dispatching centers of the institutions involved in emergency situations, was completed one year ago, but the authorities haven’t used it yet. Meanwhile, Romania's Emergency Inspectorate (ISU) operates in 32 buildings around Bucharest, most of which have a high seismic risk, which means they may collapse at a stronger earthquake, reports local Profit.ro. The new emergency situations center can’t be used because the operational protocols among various institutions haven’t been signed yet. The investment in this building totaled EUR 24.2 million. UTI Group, one of the companies involved in the building, said that the City Hall hasn’t yet signed the reception documents and hasn’t fully paid the entire amount to the constructors. The contract between the Bucharest City Hall and the joint venture of Teamnet International-UTI group-TopRam Project was signed in December 2011. Teamnet International was founded by the Romanian MP Sebastian Ghita, who is now investigated by prosecutors in several criminal cases. UTI Group is owned by the Romanian businessman Tiberiu Urdareanu. He was arrested and sent to court by Romania’s anticorruption prosecutors last year for bribing Iasi’s former mayor Gheorghe Nechita to implement a traffic management system in the city. editor@romania-insider.com