How long has it been since the asphalt was laid here? - A bit over a year... - This asphalt?! 4000 ROADS PAVED WITH ASPHALT THROUGH PNDL (The National Programme for Local Development) - Is this a road modernized through the National Programme for Local Development (PNDL)? - Yes, through PNDL 1. - What did you modernize? What is this? - Asphalt. - Really, asphalt? - Is this how asphalt is supposed to look like? - Yes. [man] -This road was made to last a couple of days. On the third day it went to shit! - As you can see, this is a well-built road. [Dragnea] Thousands and thousands of projects, especially in the rural areas of Romania. - Water supply, a sewage system, schools, health centres, asphalt. [woman] - This cannot be called a proper asphalt work, my dear. - Did you build the same road twice? [mayor] -Well, I can build it a hundred times if I want to. [reporter] - But isn't it as if you have completely wasted the money? [mayor] - No, we do not consider that to be the case. [Dragnea] - But why not asphalt the roads? [mayor] - Take out the documents with the roadworks for me, please. HUNDREDS OF MAYORS INVOLVED [mayor] - The roadworks are still in progress... [mayor] - The moment you lay the asphalt, the heel of your shoe must not sink in the base layers if the job was done well. I have been supervising this roadwork and I tried to see if my heel would go beneath this layer. [Dragnea] - The Romanian rural areas are starting to change... 9 MILLION BENEFICIARIES [woman] - He keeps on making promises and he never fulfills them. - Nothing at all. [mayor] - Take my word that I am ashamed to run into you and hear you say: "This mayor... what's wrong with him? Is he stupid, cannot he see how this road was made?" [reporter] - We want to ask you a few questions about a road that was built by Gecor and is now destroyed. I don't have any comments to make, I really don't. A FEW FIRMS AND LIVIU DRAGNEA, THE CREATOR [reporter to Liviu Dragnea] - I will show you some photos of some roads that were asphalted through PNDL, so you can see how they look like a short while after the construction. [Dragnea] - I cannot tell for sure if they were built through PNDL or not. [reporter] - There are party roads that built these roads, do you think they were favored for this programme? [Dragnea] - Party firms? [reporter] - Yes. [Dragnea] - You can forget about it. [another reporter] - Why though? *some comments on the use of the expression "party firms" [man] - As they usually do their job in this country. ASPHALT. AN INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED BY RECORDER [RADIO] The fantastic republic of Romania. [radio presenter] My friends, the party clientele is free to steal. Romania is once again the country of wrongdoing. We will talk a bit about the National Programme for Local Development. Recorder.ro has investigated this terrifying phenomenon, they've published an investigative documentary on the theft committed through PNDL (...) [reporter] 2 months ago we started driving on the least frequented roads of the country to see how the biggest programme of investment in the rural areas since the 1989 Revolution is developing. 9 million people live here, in the rural areas, almost half of the population, people at which the politicians have always looked down on. The Romanian rural area was not a priority when the investment budgets were set in Bucharest. The National Programme for Local Development, created by Liviu Dragnea in 2013, should have repaired this injustice. 10 billion euros had been allocated for modernization projects and half of this budget went to what should have taken these villages out of the medieval times: replacement of the barely paved country-side roads with asphalted ones. We went on the field to witness this transformation and we discovered that the reality had been distorted by the politicians through their speeches: It is not the farmers who gain from this programme, but the party firms that cash in money and leave behind roads that wreck at first rain. We've studied the documents of acquisition, we've talked with the mayors, builders and project planners. We've pieced together the information we've gathered in order to understand by which means the theft is made. from the asphalt works done through PNDL. [reporter] The correct way to asphalt a road means respecting a strict formula from which you cannot deviate if you want the work to last over time. To be more precise, when you step on a properly asphalted road, you're not only stepping on a layer of asphalt, but on a complex structure formed of 4 obligatory layers. At the construction, a 20 cm layer of ballast is laid first - this is the cheapest material of all those to be used. Then comes the so-called cylindrical crushed stone layer, a hard stone that gives endurance to this complex structure. Over this layer, a first round of asphalt is laid with a thickness of 6 cm, that has a linking role. At last, another 4 cm of a different type of asphalt are laid, made precisely to last under road traffic. But not all constructors are concerned with making a long-lasting road, but rather a profitable one. Therefore, in complicity with the mayors and other authorities of control, the constructors end up reducing the thickness of the layers to keep the money allocated to the acquisition of the materials. Or, even worse, to give up completely on one of the four layers: Either on the one of crushed stone, either on the ballast one, or on one of the two layers of asphalt. In case of extreme greed, the constructor can even give up on all three layers that form the base and lay the asphalt directly on the ground. This way, the money for the materials remains in the pockets of the contructor. The state gets to pay as if the road had been built according to the book and receives in return a poorly-done work that will collapse not long after the inauguration. In Schitu (commune), from Olt county, this theft "recipe" seems to be respected entirely. [reporter] - Have a look here, this is a layer of earth. They had laid asphalt directly on the field. [man] - How is it possible to lay asphalt directly on the field? Since it was paved directly on the field, you can just scrape it, they will pose with a car that places the stone to make people think the work was done well. - How will it possibly last? A lot of cars were damaged on these roads, as can be seen from the traces of oil SCHITU COMMUNE OLT COUNTY 2 km of communal road were asphalted in 2014 through PNDL. The project costed 400.000 euros, but it was done so badly that you can break the asphalt with your own hands. [reporter] -It broke like a biscuit. We've confronted the mayor of Schitu with the situation from the field. [reporter] - Is this a road modernized through PNDL? MARIAN LUNGANU. THE MAYOR OF SCHITU COMMUNE [mayor of Schitu] - Yes, PNDL 1. [reporter] - Was it modernized? [mayor] - Yeah, that's how you call it, modernized. [reporter] - Well, what did you modernize? What is this? - Asphalt. [reporter] - Is this how asphalt is supposed to look like? [mayor] - Yes. [reporter] - What is the width that this asphalt should have had? [mayor]- 6 centimeters. [reporter] - Let's see how much it (actually) has. [reporter] - Have at look at this, it's thinner than a slice of bread! [reporter] - 2.5 centimeters. [mayor] - 3, 3, yes, and a half, yes. [reporter] - Why was this work done this way? [mayor] - So, I have... I will repeat once more, because [stuttering], as such, it's not that the builder took... he also took the responsibility to, he said he will lay the second layer. The constructor made many commitments, but did not respect any of them. According to the initial project for the Schitu road, there should have been laid 2 layers of asphalt, 4 times thicker than what had actually been made. Mayor Lunganu doesn't seem to have learnt anything from this story after all. This year, he obtained another tranche of funds through PNDL for the asphalting of another segment of road. He is building it with the exact same constructor. [reporter] - What is going to be made here? [mayor] - So, (a road with) asphalt bitumen. [reporter] - An asphalted road? [mayor] - Yes. So the road that connects Schitu commune with Lisa village, where [stuttering] the students will be transported on the shortest route. [reporter] - So you are building the road with a firm that wrecked one of your roads, are you saying you are building 2 more kilometers with them now? [mayor] - Let me explain to you... the contract made in 2011... could not have been terminated as the work was still ongoing, ongoing meaning that I couldn't have terminated the contract, as there was made no reception to the road that... so... that is the difference with the other place. [reporter] - And what's your guarantee that this road will be long-lasting and will not turn to dust? [mayor] - Guarantee [that] I will supervise the work with the chief of the building site, I will be here permanently, I will have the chief here that will permanently come and verify the work. So, the more the mister that won the auction hurries, he will finish this road, and then repair the other one. *trying to reproduce his grammatical mistakes So, it will be fully repaired. [reporter]- And after he finishes repairing that road he will probably repair this one as well.
[mayor] - Then the reception is signed. [mayor] -Well, he won't [have to] repair it once he builds it, he finishes this one and then repairs the other one. There, we have all the clues to believe that the second segment will not last long either. Take a look at the gravel that's supposed to support the asphalt in this commune. It is thinner than flour. We also asked for the opinion of an expert in constructions regarding the quality of the materials used at Schitu. [MARCEL IORDACHE, technician constructor] - I will go with the option that this is a joke. A bad joke... You cannot do such thing - to be the worst worker as it is a total compromising of the work. [reporter] - Is there stone here? [mayor] - Yes, there is. [reporter] - This feels more like sand then stone. [mayor] What's written... we have a chief of the the building site, he checks on everything, yes! The builder with which the mayor of Schitu insists to asphalt the roads is, in fact, an association of two firms: Marsilva Com and Condor Păduraru SRL. The owner of Condor is Sorin Păduraru, a character involved in a massive corruption file that was aimed at getting Darius Vâlcov. 4 years ago, Păduraru admitted in front of the public prosecutors from DNA to having paid Vâlcov a 10% commission from the contracts obtained with public money. We called Sorin Păduraru to ask him if the works done at Schitu were also made through political influence and commissions given to the party. [reporter] -Was there collected any commission for this road built at Schitu? Sorin Păduraru: Mister, if you were a public prosecutor... you're approaching me as if you were from the National Anti-Corruption Department.... How would I know? I have no knowledge of that, I don't even believe it to be the case. [mayor to the vice-mayor]- You were right, man! You were right! In front of the camera, mayor Lunganu denied as well that he was politically influenced when he chose who to contract with for the asphalt works. But, as he was leading us to the municipality, the Recorder mic left in his pocket taped how he was advising with the vice-mayor on how to hide the truth. Audio recording: The same way he approached the others! He approached those mayors the same way, he even made one say "This is how the order came, from above." [from the investigation "Dumnezeul Achizițiilor, also available on Youtube:] - Some phone calls coming from where? [mayor] Well, both from the centre and... - From the party? - From the centre. Audio recording: But they are trying to speak badly of that one... But I won't say [a thing], it is pointless. *inaudible* They will try from the party... We weren't able to terminate [the contract]... [mayor] - Is this a party firm? -No, no, so it is legal. And it won the cheapest offer. But everything was legal. We couldn't take them to court because we would have lost. So, we looked into this ourselves, we have our own jurist, because the road is still under work... We have our own jurist. He says: Mister mayor, do not start a trial as they will win, because you cannot terminate the contract. The base... and not even in the contract can you... look, there is no clause in the contract on termination. [reporter] - The municipality was the one to lose in this case. [mayor] -Yes, yes, yes. That is how things are. [reporter] - Well, why is that? [mayor] - You know it is in our nature to make mistakes. [doubt] [reporter] -This is an intentional "mistake". [mayor] - No, it wasn't intentional, sometimes mistakes are made. We tried to find out from the firms that won the contract how come the mistakes were so big and advantageous to them. The owner of Condor claims that his firm was involved only on paper. [owner of Condor] - I have nothing to do with that, I did not do the work. Marsilva built it. Around 8 years ago, I helped this firm at the auction. I gave them my support. A newly established firm must fulfill some conditions in order to be able participate at auctions. And it cannot do it by itself, it needs the support of a bigger firm. [reporter] We went to Slatina, at the headquarters of the firm Marsilva Com, the one that laid the asphalt. No one there wanted to give us any explanations. The employees told us that they are busy with the forms they need to fill out in order to participate at other auctions. The result was this short interview between walls. [reporter] - At this address the headquarters of a firm that built a road are located... [employee] - Yes [reporter] - [...] a road where the asphalt simply disappeared. [employee] - We don't know what to tell you. [reporter] - We request to speak with someone from the firm Marsilva Com SRL. [employee] - There is no such thing as Marsilva. reporter: [doubt] How so? reporter: - Look, it's written here on the wall Marsilva Com SRL... [reporter] - And you, miss, are in the headquarters of the firm. [employee] I don't know. I don't know. [reporter] - So, are you saying that we found you here randomly, that you were just passing by... employee: [raising tone] Mister, do you understand that I do not know? Do you? [another employee] - Please, we have stuff to do here, and we will not sit here... According to public data, Condor and Marsilva have cashed in by now, through PNDL, over 7 million euros. As a matter of fact, Olt was the number one county in 2018 regarding contracts conducted through PNDL, worth 51 million euros, 7 times more than a district like Brașov. [Locals] This is how it was wrecked, this is how it is done here, it's the norm. Faster and faster, they'll do whatever. They barely asphalted. That cannot be called asphalt. The way in which asphalt works were performed at Schitu seems to be the norm throughout the country. We went through multiple counties to check on the condition on the roads asphalted through PNDL. Inaugurated with grandeur few years ago, the roads now look catastrophically. TV (2015): An important investment, especially for the locals of Izvoarele commune, was welcomed few days ago. It is a road exactly as you can see, very well done, very well-built, to say so. 3 YEARS LATER PRICE: 1.600.000 € TV, 2013: Răcari city was celebrating for two days. On the first day, the completion of the communal road 43A Răcari - Ghimpați - Butimanu was marked. 6 YEARS LATER PRICE: 2.000.000 € DIMITRIE CANTEMIR VILLAGE, GIURGIU COUNTY. PRICE: 600.000 € CIOCĂNEȘTI COMMUNE, DÂMBOVIȚA COUNTY. PRICE: 3.700.000 € [Dragnea] - It was definitely not easy to develop this programme and now it's working really well. It works wonders, to say so. The National Programme for Local Development replaced the European funds designated for the asphalting of roads. This means that instead of building with money coming from Bruxelles, we chose to spend from the national budget. The mayors were happy about it, as Liviu Dragnea's programme entailed less beaurecracy as compared to the projects funded by the EU. We used to sign tens of thousand of pages of documentations, requests of funding, requests of payment. We used to send inclusively copies after Official Monitors, own risk declarations, our shoe size, our well-being, whatever you want. Our salvation bore the name of Liviu Dragnea. The National Programme for Local Development: flexible, thin, without bureaucracy. [Dragnea] - All it takes is for the mayor to come to Bucharest with 2 documents, and not trucks of documents. 2 documents to be brought to Bucharest. [reporter] Less documents, but also less supervision. Regarding the projects made through European funds, there were inspections from the authority that allocated the money, When it comes to the PNDL, these on-field inspections were removed. We are now in Vâlcea district, on a communal road built with European funds. The differences are considerable. [reporter] - This road is almost perfect. It looks as if it was laid a couple of days ago. [mayor] - Yes, and it was laid almost 9 years ago. It has no hole, no fissure, nothing. If you build them accordingly, with the base layer and the ballast and broken stone, it cannot get wrecked. [reporter] - Not even with tractors and trucks running over them? [mayor] - It doesn't matter. And it's not tractors that run here, it's big trucks. This road doesn't have a restriction on tonnage. Bizarrely enough, the road from Bărbătești, asphalted with European funds, is cheaper than the one from Schitu, built with PNDL funds. We've obtained the documents of acquisition of the two roads and we saw that the value of the asphalt laid through PNDL is two times higher than of the one laid with European funds. This, even though the auctions took place in the same period of time. and in the same geographical area. The prices are 2 or even 3 times higher in the case of footbridges. The same with grooves. We have confronted several mayors and a lot of them complained that it is almost impossible for them to discover the frauds commited by the constructor. They put the blame on the chief of the construction work, which was chosen by them. At Bărbătești though, we can see that in reality, it all depends on the mayor and that a mayor in good faith can avoid fraud. When the work was completed, where I had my doubts and I was under the impression that the layer of asphalt does not have the required 10 cm of thickness and in order not to have any problems at the inspection, I asked the constructor if he agrees to take samples. Samples from various places - places chosen by me and not by the constructor. And, to my surprise, all samples without exception ranged from 12 cm to 18 cm at curves. How much does this one have? - 15 cm. Mayor Constantin Banacu, member of PSD (Social Democrat Party) built roads through PNDL as well and he built them well. His example shows that this program has the potential to function if the mayors don't give in to the temptation to step into the dirty games of the party firms that compromise the works in order to misappropriate the governmental funds. When the theft takes place, we in fact witness a chain complicity: builder - chief of construction - mayor - State Inspectorate for Constructions - Ministry of Development. Have a look! This is the asphalt you laid through PNDL. [ION TOMA, MAYOR OF MOVILENI COMMUNE, OLT DISTRICT]: Yes, mister director, but take a look at this centre we built... [reporter] - Look under your feet at the laid layer of asphalt. [mayor] - Well, I am looking at what's under my feet, but look, I have a chief of construction that takes responsibility for everything. I am not responsible for everything... So, mister, were you not aware of the situation until now? Well, I was, but here it shrunk as it happened with the others, it must be repaired... MOVILENI COMMUNE. OLT DISTRICT So the road shrunk. It's one thing to tilt, another thing to shrink.
*said in an incorrect way And if you take a look at district roads you can see that they shrunk as well. What are these shrinkings? So... the asphalt dilates, how should I know? Something is happening there! - What exactly? An infiltration of water, or of something else. Due to rain. Ion Toma is the mayor of Movileni commune, in Olt county. He wasted 1.2 million euros, from PNDL funds, on a road with only 1 layer of asphalt. The base of the road is 30% thinner in comparison with other similar roads. The result: not long after asphalting, the road was wrecked. Are you satisfied with the quality of the work done here? [mayor] - Deep down, I am satisfied the moment I see a smile on the faces of my citizens, that they have decent enough conditions to walk around in slippers and everything useful in our days. The mayor offers to give us a tour of the commune to show us his accomplishments, but he encounters a minor impediment. - With which car did you come? - With the [Dacia] Logan, but I have to go take the keys. [reporter] - Well then, from which car is the key that you're holding? - Excuse me? - To which car does this key belong? [mayor] - Oh, it is not from ... [me]. [reporter] - You're extraordinary, let's take your car now [since you hold these keys]. [mayor] - No, I am going to take the keys for the Logan, I am not going to run. [reporter] - He went to take the keys from the Logan of the municipality as he could not have taken his personal car, as it would have made him look bad. He came here with that car over there. 10 years ago, before he became a mayor, Ion Toma was among the poorest children in the commune, and he would not back off when it came to performing the lower tasks in the party. He ended up being a security guard at the Municipal Council and then suddenly he became the mayor of the commune. He bought nicer clothes, a foreign car and he handled the administration the best he could. The moment the asphalt is laid, the heel of your shoe... if your heel doesn't immerge into it, then the road was built well. *repeats himself [reporter] - And what the case with this road when you did that? [mayor] - I think that's how it was! [reporter] - How was it? [mayor] - I supervised this work and with my heel I tried not to immerse into the base layers. Frătești commune, district of Giurgiu. This portion of the road was built on 2014, through PNDL (National Programme For Local Development). It costed 400.000 euros. [MARIAN CĂRĂȚEANU, the mayor of this commune]: Believe me, I am even ashamed to meet you on the street and to hear you say: "This mayor... What's up with him? Is he stupid? Can't he see in what state this road is?" Do people not find me guilty [of it]? People have all the reasons to find mayor Marian Cărățeanu guilty. He should have supervised the work and should have made sure that it is done well when he accepted to pay the firm that built it. Now he declares himself indignant and tries to pose as the victim. [reporter] - How would you qualify the situation here? That, in theory, it would be a modernized road? But you can no longer see the asphalt. [mayor] - Well, what could be seen here since it was completely wrecked? It’s shameful. Look at it! Do you see it? In some parts it still lasted, more or less, look at it. It more or less lasted here. But over there, it didn't. And it's gone, look at it! Where could we see the 17 billion RON spent here by the constructor? Which 17 billion RON do you want to see? This is it! From km 0 till the very end. After 5 years, the mayor decided to sue the firm that built the road. He considers the laws to be too lenient, thus allowing the constructors to do whatever they want. They win contracts because they leave the values low at auctions, so they’d get the contract and then perform an additional act, if possible… And then, after the guarantee (period) expires: “Farewell, it’s on you now to deal with it!” The road at Frătești was built by Gecor SRL, a firm with strong connections with the highest ranking government officials. It belongs to Cusă family, known for their friendship with the leaders of the Social Democrat Party from Buzău county. [left] NICULAE BĂDĂLĂU, Minister of Economy; [centre] GEORGE CUSĂ; [right] RĂZVAN CUC, Minister of Transport George Cusă, the son of the director of the firm, was the godfather of Gabriel Bădălău at his marriage *it’s an orthodox thing to be godparents for a married couple* Gabriel Bădălău being the son of the current Minister of Economy. He's also close with Răzvan Cuc, the Minister of Transport. The firms owned by Cusă family are among the biggest beneficiaries of the National Programme for Local Development (PNDL). The latest major accomplishment: having asphalted through PNDL a road that had already been asphalted through this programme by another firm. We are now on a road in Greaca commune, in Giurgiu county. It was modernized with half a million euros sometime last Autumn. What’s interesting about it is that underneath this road there is another road that was also modernized through PNDL, also of around a few hundred thousand euros. Yes, they have laid two roads, one on top of the other one. PETRE LIVIU HOLDĂRESCU (spokesman for the municipality of Greaca): We had to redo the work as it degraded. It was full of holes. [reporter] - Well, why is that? [spokesman] - How should I know? It could have been low quality materials, low quality execution , what can I say? [reporter] Normally, a road like this has a minimum duration of 15 years. [spokesman] Well, it might be minimum 15 years on paper, but here it barely lasted for 2 years. What can I say? I am not a specialist. [reporter] - Well then you built the same road twice? [spokesman] Well, I can build it 100 times if I want to. [reporter] Doesn't this feel as if you wasted money? [spokesman] No, no. No, we do not consider it to be the case. In the last few years, the firms owned by Cusă family won contracts worth over 20 million euros through PNDL. But no state authority ever questioned them for the poorly done works that used public money. So we thought we should be the ones to question them. Look at the palace this firm built as their headquarters. Here is the money from the holes in the national roads. Good afternoon! We're Recorder, from Bucharest, from the press. We're working on a material and we would like to speak with someone from this firm... [employee] We kindly ask you to leave the building. [reporter] You didn't even wait for me to see what I wanted [to ask]... We want to know this firm's position on the road that it built and it is now in ruins. [employee] Please, this is a commercial society... [reporter] ... that builds roads with public money. [employee[ Please, leave. Can I least leave my contact here so someone would contact me? No, no! Does no one from the firm want to talk with us? In front of the building, we met Cornel Cusă, one of the two brothers in charge of the group of firms. We want to ask you a few questions concerning a road that Gecor firm built and is now in ruins. No one from the headquarters would talk with us and we would like to ask you a few questions... I don't have any comments to make about this, I really don't. [reporter] But you are one of the representatives of the firm. You're the son of the owner. [Cusă] Are you really sure about that? [reporter:] -Yes. [Cornel Cusă:] -Very Good. We took pictures of the roads built by Gecor and other firms that have asphalted through PNDL and we went to Liviu Dragnea, the creater of this programme, to show them to him. We met him on a campaign trip in Argeș county. [reporter] - I'm going to show you photos from what we recorded of some roads asphalted through PNDL Look in what state they are now, shortly after being asphalted. [Dragnea] - How many roads are there? [reporter] - For example here, only here, there are 7 roads, but we saw at least 15,16 of them out of 30. Half of the roads we've seen from PNDL 1 look like this. [Dragnea] - Bravo! I do not know whether they are part of PNDL or not, but as in any other field, I don't think we can have 100% efficiency. If things really are as you say, it means there were some people that wasted the money. The state institutions, the centre for inspection of constructions and others have to verify. [reporter] - When you created this programme, did you make sure there would be certain instruments available in order to avoid this fraud? [Dragnea] - When I created this programme, I made sure the countryside would no longer be in mud. And it's getting out of mud! [reporter] - There are party firms that built these roads, do you think they were favoured [compared to others] with this programme? [Dragnea] - Party firms? We are done with this, little rooster. *literal translation [reporter] But why? [Dragnea] He used this expression *referring to "party firms"* to... TWO DAYS LATER TÂRGOVIȘTE. 19 MAY 2019: [Dragnea] We invest in the Romanian countryside, we invest in infrastructure, we invest in the future of this country! We asphalt the roads that have never been asphalted, We started building the highways that have never been built, And we will continue, regardless of the obstacles set by these bastard former members of the secret police! Our communes, in a few years, will be more beautiful than the communes of Western Europe! Because the Romanian nation is also more beautiful! Thank you and God help us! AN INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED BY ALEX NEDEA VIDEOGRAPHY DAVID MUNTEAN GRAPHICS IONUȚ DUNEA EDITORS CRISTIAN DELCEA AND MIHAI VOINEA Recorder is a publication self-financed through publicity and donations from our readers. YOU CAN ALSO SUPPORT OUR INITIATIVE.
