Turda
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Last update 04/10/2016
Turda is one of the six cities of Cluj County and the second largest after the county capital (Cluj-Napoca), representing 8.31% of the county population and 14.57% of its total urban population. In addition to being an important industrial centre, Turda is developed in terms of commerce, culture, urbanism and tourism.
According to the latest census, 2,606 Roma live in Turda, however unofficial estimates are at around 5,000 Roma community members, representing roughly 10% of the total population. Although Roma are present in several areas of the city, the focus of the ROMACT programme is on Barbu Lautaru Street where around 200 Roma face the worst living conditions in the city. People in the area are confronted with high unemployment, issues related to housing and overcrowding as well as lack of property rights and consequently lack of access to various basic utilities.
The ROMACT Process
Turda joined ROMACT with the Mayor’s signature on the Letter of Commitment on the 10th February 2016. The cooperation between the CAG and the local authorities resulted in a Joint Action Plan adopted on 27 April 2017 which includes the identification of both short-term and long-term priorities:
| Short-term priorities | Objective 1 | Objective 2 | Objective 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Setting up at least one speed bump for cars circulating on Barbu Lautaru street | Placing street waste bins | Paving and repairing roads in the neighborhood |
| Employment | Disseminating advertisments for available jobs in Turda through the Information and Counselling Center of the City Hall | ||
| Other | Collecting stray dogs from the streets | Organise consultation on voluntary dislocation of part of the population in Barbu Lautari in a different area of the city, in more appropriate housing | Cleaning the neighborhood |
| Long-term priorities | Objective 1 | Objective 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | Solving the issue of property documents (many of which are done by hand) | |
| Infrastructure | Solving the issue of difficult access of emergency utilities in the narrow streets of the neighborhood. | Facilitation of access to amenities (also linked to ID and property documents issues) |
On the 30 September 2016, a cleaning action initiated by the CAG was organised with the help of the ROMACT Romania National Support Team and with some financial support of the ROMACT Programme for materials needed for the cleaning. 50 school aged children participated in the cleaning action and they received backpacks and stationary needed for the new school year as a reward for their participation in the cleaning campaign. The municipality of Turda provided logistical support, organising garbage collection and disposal of the debris collected on the day. To learn more on this story, read this article.
Other CAG activities have included a letter addressed to the authority in charge of animal control, the letter highlighted the stray dog population in the area and asked for a collection and sterilisation of the animals to address the situation. The municipality responded by hiring a veterinarian for sterilisation procedures and initiating a programme of animal collection and sterilisation. While the action was greatly appreciated, the problem presented by stray dogs is ongoing with residents continuing to be threatened by stray dogs in the neighbourhood.
The ROMACT Romania NST is regularly in contact with local authorities and schools as well as continuing to seek funding for various priorities within the Operational Programme for Human Resources.
The Municipality benefited of ROMACT expertise for the following projects:
* CEPS Turda - quality, equality, frienship in schools from Turda, Operational Program Human Capital 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.6
Budget: 1 395 275 euros
Status: approved
Turda inclusiv town - local partnership for social welfare from marginalized communities from Turda, Operational Program Human Capital 5.1
Status: rejected
Local Development Strategy, Operational Programme Human Capital 5.1
Budget: 7 000 000 euros
Status: approved