The water crisis in Prahova County was used by PSD and AUR to destabilize the Environment Minister appointed by USR, publicly demanding his resignation and submitting a motion in Parliament.
Sorin Grindeanu, in order to mask the party’s failure in the Bucharest mayoral elections, conditioned the Social Democrats’ stay in government on USR’s exit from the coalition. In reality, an announcement of the end of the current political understanding between pro-European parties.
In a discussion with Diana Buzoianu, USR deputy and Environment Minister, we tried to find out if she assumes any responsibility in the case of the water crisis in Prahova County and how she positions herself against the violent attacks from PSD and AUR.
It is worth mentioning that Diana Buzoianu is a popular political figure and has strong support among the general public due to the measures taken against the timber mafia at Romsilva and corruption within the Romanian Waters.
Relevant Quotes:
If I were afraid that I might be ousted by PSD and AUR and then not do anything, it would mean to conflict with my values. My political objective is to show that there can be another way...
The measures I have taken at the Ministry of Environment are measures that have been endorsed by all parties in the governance program. The reform and reorganization of Romsilva, for example, is a project that was endorsed in the governance program...
When I took office at the ministry, there were widespread lies about the existence of the gravel pit radar (a river exploitation monitoring application - ed.). I changed the director at the Romanian Waters, and the new director discovered that the application had been altered to the point of becoming useless. It no longer had any verification keys for reports coming from the field...
I found that on almost 80% of the leased beaches illegal constructions had been erected...
I would like to ask how you feel caught between a certain type of admiration for what you do manifested by a large part of the public opinion and the harsh attacks from PSD and AUR? Sorin Grindeanu, the president of PSD, criticized you harshly and demanded your resignation.
When I entered this government, it was very clear that we would have significant disagreements with PSD. It is not surprising that there are very different visions. Where, for example, we want to reform, cut, and clean up institutions, we often clash with people who have been politically supported over time by parties that now say that not all these reorganizations should be done so harshly.
Yes, I face two types of manifestations: one natural, organic, coming from people who finally see that things are happening at the Ministry of Environment. The other is manufactured in propaganda laboratories.
All I can do is continue to act, work to advance the projects we have started, fight to clean up certain institutions that have held us back until now. And if people see this effort, all the better.
Ultimately, no one leaves politics with a statue. It's not about statues erected in politics. I entered politics because I was outraged by Emergency Ordinance 13. That was the moment I decided to enter politics. If people who look at us see that we have started to work, to correct some things, appreciate that, honestly, I don't care what AUR parliamentarians or some PSD parliamentarians say.
After all, in many cases, our revolt was against the actions of a significant part of these politicians, who today are outraged that there are well-thought-out reorganizations in institutions where they were used to having the final say.
I can't overlook the fact that the leader of a party that is part of the governing coalition, Sorin Grindeanu, said he is willing to leave government because of the USR ministers. What is your position on this statement?
They should act as they see fit. The idea is that they are blackmailing the coalition parties. If they don't like a minister, they should be fired, otherwise, we leave the government.
We can now see the chaos in Justice. Is anyone demanding the resignation of the PSD Minister of Justice immediately, otherwise will USR leave the government? Yes, we have called for answers in Parliament, we will have laws that we urgently want to pass to eliminate these abuses.
But the idea that each party in the coalition takes its toys and leaves when disturbed by the measures proposed by another party in the coalition is simply childish. Clearly, we are worlds apart from PSD. If they did not want to be part of this coalition, they should have said so from the beginning.
The measures I have taken at the Ministry of Environment, by the way, are measures that have been endorsed by all parties in the governance program. The reform and reorganization of Romsilva, for example, is a project that was endorsed in the governance program. For two months, PSD has been blocking this project, saying that it needs to check how many departments there should be, how many directors there should be. That's the only thing that has been discussed.
So we need to move away from the narrative that ministers from other parties bother us. That's not what bothers those from PSD. They are bothered by the measures proposed by me, Diana Buzoianu. They are bothered by the measures proposed by Radu Miruță. That's what it's ultimately about.
However, the water crisis in Prahova County has provoked criticism from civil society regarding how the Ministry of Environment handled this issue. I have seen your position, read the Control Body report. I see that you filed a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office. Do you blame yourself for the management of this crisis?
Our focus, from the moment this incident occurred, has been to work alongside local authorities. To find solutions as quickly as possible.
These days, we are in discussions with local authorities to see, even in the future, what alternative solutions, what alternative water sources can exist, or what additional water reserves can be created. Of course, these things need to be done at the local level, but the ministry wants to support to see exactly how these measures can be taken as quickly as possible.
From my point of view, the situation once again shows where the extreme politicization of certain local institutions actually leads.
How did you find out about this crisis situation?
I found out from mayors because the local authorities who were supposed to manage from the local level...
Did you find out from local administrations, from the communities already affected by the water problem?
The mayors called us because they had not received water for several hours and had received a notification from the operator that water supply would resume within 24 hours.
No one had received any information. The Ministry of Environment had not received any notification from the local authorities that water would be shut off. And the notification the mayors received was delayed. Meaning, the water was cut off on Friday, November 28, and the notification was sent the next day, Saturday. That was the level of reaction from the local authorities.
Did the mayors receive notifications that repairs were starting, Lake Paltinu was being drained, and that there might be complications during the intervention process?
No, they did not receive them. This is something that appears in the conclusions of the Control Body report. It was an obligation of the Buzău Ialomița Basin Administration. They did not do this. In fact, the mayors came and said even in the meetings I attended that if they had known in advance, they could have made larger water reserves.
What role does the ministry have in such a complicated intervention procedure with catastrophic effects, as seen?
We need to understand one thing: local authorities cannot be replaced by a minister. This means that the ministry cannot do the groundwork of local authorities.
For years, we have been advocating for decentralization, to have authorities as close as possible to the citizens. When we shift all responsibility to a thousand authorities, that is the moment when, in fact, no responsibility is truly assumed. The works, the procedure for draining the lake were done by local companies. The intervention schedule was set at the local level. Risks were assumed also at the local level.
Indeed, there is a national commission that analyzed the documents that came from local authorities, namely from the Buzău Ialomița Water Administration, which assured that there would be enough water, that no one would be affected, the society's representatives explicitly wrote this. We will have enough water to cover the population's need for drinking water. So they included this in the documents.
The analysis they conducted cannot be redone at the national level. An analysis is done to see if all procedural steps have been followed, if legal conditions have been met. This means that the ministry cannot replace, and it is not appropriate to do so, the activity of local authorities.
Authorities must implement the measures, ensure that the work schedule they provided is respected, and the obligations they assumed when they came to request authorizations or approvals from national commissions.
I also heard this fake news that I signed the work commencement order. There is no work commencement order signed by the minister. Because, simply put, I do not have that authority.
In the context of this crisis, have you considered resigning?
I am not surprised that PSD and AUR have politically exploited this tragedy. I am not surprised that certain TV stations aired fake news and information for two weeks in a row with the purpose of creating panic.
From my point of view, I have stated very clearly: I was not born a minister. I can leave tomorrow, calmly, and work in the private sector.
That's not the issue. I am a principled person. I don't deny that we can make mistakes. I'm not saying we are perfect. What I'm saying is that for the first time at the Ministry of Environment, it can be seen that problems that have been hidden for years are now being brought to light. Some of them have started to be addressed. We cannot naively believe that the reaction is not linked to the fact that it upsets many people.
The above text represents a fragment from the entire discussion. The full interview can be watched in the video published at the beginning of the article.