Stelian Bujduveanu wants the Capital City Hall to rebuild the block destroyed by the explosion in Rahova: “Those who were damaged remain the owners”

The interim mayor of the capital, Stelian Bujduveanu, announced on Thursday that, in the Government decision under public debate, the option will be introduced that the block destroyed by the explosion in Rahova will be rebuilt by Bucharest City Hall, with the tenants becoming owners of the apartments, according to Agerpres.

“Following the discussions with the Ministry of Development, with Minister Cseke, with the Prime Minister, the Government Decision will include the option for the Capital City Hall to rebuild the building, through a new program created by the Capital City Hall, a disaster reconstruction program, in case of such tragedies that affect an entire community,” said Stelian Bujduveanu.

“The (tenants – no) received the news well and we are waiting in the next period for the Government to approve this decision, which today is in public debate. The program we proposed, which Minister Cseke will introduce in the final form of the GD, will be owners (tenants – no)”, said Bujduveanu, after meeting with the people affected by the explosion in the Rahova neighborhood.

The spokesperson of the Government, Ioana Dogioiu, said on Thursday, about the explosion in Rahova, that there is no legal framework by which the state can rebuild a building which, in the hypothesis that it will be demolished, will perish completely, and if it is rebuilt by the state, legally, there is no basis for the state to provide the keys, according to News.ro.

“It's not about repairs. It's not about adjustments. It's about gutting a building that needs to be completely rebuilt, from the foundation to the roof,” she said. The spokesperson of the Government mentioned that, “when such a building is lost, implicitly the right of ownership is lost”.

“I use the legal term. That's what it's called, destruction. So, at that moment, the property right is extinguished, because its object perishes. It no longer exists. This is the situation. At the moment when such a block is rebuilt by the state, legally, there is no basis for the state to be able to give the keys. And also legally, if it turns out that it was not a natural event, which, of course, is somewhat unlikely from the first data, I do not pronounce, but all the data show that there were some errors by some people, institutions, we will see the ongoing investigations, according to our legislation and any legislation in this world, civil, the one who caused a damage must repair it. So, with all these aspects in mind, surely a block can be rebuilt, that's what the framework is created for. There are two options in the Ordinance under debate, namely to be built from the budget or to be built with City Hall funds and both are viable”, Ioana Dogioiu pointed out.

“As for how the state can provide these apartments, there is no legal framework. What the state can do – and there is an analysis from this point of view, if it can do – is to pay the cost of these apartments in the form of compensation, definitely, for those who have insurance and take over their insurance. Or give some help, on the Broșteni model, for those who had the compulsory insurance policy. But all these elements that I give you only as a hypothesis are under analysis at this moment”, Ioana Dogioiu also stated.

The prosecutors have opened a criminal case in rem, in which investigations are being carried out for the commission of the crime of culpable destruction that resulted in a disaster, in connection with the explosion that took place on Friday morning in a block of flats in the Rahova district, resulting in three deaths.

The file was initially opened by the Public Prosecutor's Office attached to the 5th District Court, but was taken over by the Public Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

The explosion took place in an eight-story building on Strada Vicina in Capitală, and as a result of the explosion, the 5th and 6th floors of the building collapsed. The gust of the explosion was so strong that it broke the windows of a nearby high school.

A crack in a gas pipeline outside the block in Sector 5 of the Capital, where the explosion that resulted in three deaths took place, is the main hypothesis taken into account by the investigators.