The President of the Ilfov County Council Huber Thuma launches an attack on the mayor Ciprian Ciucu: “Ilfov residents are not second-class citizens”

The President of the Ilfov County Council, Hubert Thuma, responded to the General Mayor of the Capital, Ciprian Ciucu, after his statements regarding STB costs and claimed that “Ilfov doesn't ask for privileges”.

The President of the Ilfov County Council, Hubert Thuma PHOTO: Facebook/Hubert Thuma

“The people of Ilfov are not second-class citizens. Ilfovul does not ask for privileges. It demands fairness, balance and respect in a real Bucharest-Ilfov partnership. Metropolitan transport is not a fad nor a “handout”. I cannot remain silent after the latest statements of the general mayor of the Capital. Last week, at the meeting with the leaders of the political groups in the General Council, he complained that Ilfovul “receives money” from Bucharest for metropolitan transport (referring to the 230 million STB expenses) and blamed the “times” and “complicity” of the current president of Romania, Nicușor Dan, former general mayor of the Capital”the president of the Ilfov County Council wrote on his Facebook page.

He also stated that “metropolitan transport is a necessity for Bucharest and Ilfov, built on a common development vision of the Bucharest-Ilfov area” and accused the current general mayor of the Capital, that, unlike the president Nicușor Dan, “pretends not to understand what's going on in the field”warning that without metropolitan solutions, “Bucharest is stuck, and Ilfov pays the real cost of the expansion of the Capital”.

“That is why the Ilfov County Council sent an address to the competent authorities – the Ministry of Finance, the Government of Romania and the General City Hall of the Capital – through which we ask for something legitimate and common sense: 5% of the income tax estimated to be collected at the level of the Municipality of Bucharest to be distributed to Ilfov County”Hubert Thuma also specified.

According to him, the arguments are strong and simple to understand: “On paper, in Ilfov, we are 540,000. In reality, we exceed one million inhabitants. People who need roads, schools, hospitals, water and sewer, public transport and social services. And there is another truth that we cannot disguise: Many companies actually operate in Ilfov, but they have their headquarters in Bucharest, and the money is accounted for there”he added.

President CJ Ilfov also presented concrete figures, stating that “almost 130,000 Ilfov residents (who officially live here) pay income tax in Bucharest. We are talking about 1.2 billion lei. If we refer to the actual number of inhabitants, the amount is realistically much higher, approaching 3 billion lei.”

At the same time, he says, the big taxpayers in Ilfov paid VAT of over 1.3 billion euros (almost 7 billion lei) to the state budget, of which 900,000 euros were returned to the Ilfov County Council.

“And, perhaps the most difficult topic: approximately 1 million tons of waste from Bucharest will be stored in Ilfov this year. This is not “partnership”, it is an enormous pressure on our communities, on the infrastructure and on people's health”he added.

Thuma also said that he is going to meet this week with the mayors of Ilfov: “We are at an advanced stage to launch a referendum on the topic of waste storage in Bucharest in Ilfov. Not because of the conflict. But because Ilfov must be respected and consulted when it becomes the “backyard” of the Capital.”

“And I say something else, very directly, if the current administration of Bucharest continues to treat Ilfov as an area “good only to take on the problems” – garbage, traffic, urban pressure – then Ilfov will be forced to take firm measures to protect its communities. After the garbage episode, I am also considering the measure of suspending the issuance of building permits in Ilfov, until the relationship between Bucharest and Ilfov settles financially and administratively.

I know very well what that would mean: huge pressure on the housing market, economic development, service infrastructure and people's mobility. Bucharest would immediately feel the effects because Ilfovul has become the Capital's development valve: housing, logistics, warehouses, services, workforce. If this valve closes, the blockages move back to Bucharest. Which translates into more congestion, even higher prices, slowed investment, and more suffocating traffic. This proves, once again, that Bucharest and Ilfov must be managed head on, together, not against each other”Hubert Thuma also wrote.

He claims not “would have gone public with this positioning”if he didn't see “the attempt to make Ilfov guilty of duty, including on the topic of STB”.

“To suggest that public transport to Ilfov is the “cause of the losses” and to ignore the fact that the metropolitan area functions as a single organism is a sure way to a deadlock, not to solutions. And I say something else, with all responsibility: Instead of doing administration, we ended up in disputes that I didn't want. We have a prime minister, general mayor and president CJ Ilfov from the PNL – the party that had the slogan “Modernize Romania”. We should modernize, not accuse”concluded Hubert Thuma.

The claims come after the general mayor, Ciprian Ciucu, stated that STB, together with Termoenergetica, represents the biggest waste he faced when he took over the mandate at the Capital City Hall.

“I get involved because, if I don't do it, no one has it, but by law it is under the General Council. And, moreover, the City Hall's ability to delegate and monitor the public transport service was taken away and it was given to an intercommunity development agency, a kind of transport authority formed between Bucharest and Ilfov and which is controlled at the level of the AGM of 40 or so mayors from Ilfov and a mayor from Bucharest, and at the level of the board of directors, even if we pay in this company that offers services and in Ilfov – well over 90% of these services which translate into hundreds of millions of euros, we would have, let's say, I would have a majority of one person at the level of the board of directors.

(…) There are lines that reach Perla (center of Bucharest – no) from Voluntari or from elsewhere. It is not justified. The mayors of Ilfov were very happy that they would have free or almost free transport for their residents, without making a significant contribution, and they bragged about this at the expense of Bucharest”said Ciprian Ciucu to Digi24.