Project for Romania's first beach for people with disabilities, canceled

The project aimed at turning a beach sector in the seaside resort of Constanta into a therapeutic beach for people with disabilities was canceled after the authorities decided to offer this sector for rent. According to local NGO Marea Neagra Autism Center, which was in charge of the project, beach bars could instead be set up on this beach sector. “If in May 2017 the Romanian Waters offered a 2-hectare beach sector, free of charge, to be arranged for many therapeutic workshops, after only 8 months they changed their minds and canceled the project, wanting to give this beach sector to some businesses. It is worrying how the Romanian State is hindering this project, although initially the request for partnership came from the Dobrogea Seaside Water Basin Administration,” reads the press release from the NGO. Thus, as a sign of protest, Marea Neagra Autism Center has decided to send a petition to the prime minister, asking for a control at Dobrogea Seaside Water Basin Administration (ABADL). The therapeutic beach project should have been done through donations and sponsorships, with the help of hundreds of volunteers. “The situation is absurd and difficult to understand. Although the European legislation obliges the Romanian state to make all public spaces accessible, the Romanian state is abandoning a partnership for the development of the only beach for people with disabilities in Romania, given that the entire investment is made with private funds. The gesture that the representatives of the Romanian state make to the people with special needs is one that is totally grotesque and devoid of humanity, it is a clear proof of the lack of understanding and compassion for the difficult situation of a person with a certain deficiency,” said psychologist Adrian Gemanaru, project manager. He added that he was also asked to pay RON 12 per sqm of beach. By comparison, businesses in the same beach area pay RON 1-2 per sqm while those in Mamaia, the most popular seaside resort in Romania, pay RON 10 per sqm. “In 2017, with the help of families with children with disabilities, we cleaned the area of vegetation and garbage, and gathered over 20 trucks of garbage, and in the end, the Romanian state tries to offer this beach to merchants,” Gemanaru also said. Adrian Gemanaru announced the project last year. The therapeutic beach was to open this summer. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com