The Republic of Moldova’s administrative reform — merging hundreds of small town halls into larger units — has, in the Ungheni district, several centres of gravity rather than one. Besides the municipality of Ungheni, which is discussing a union with ten localities, a second nucleus is taking shape in the west of the district: Pîrlița.
On Thursday, 3 July, the Pîrlița town hall hosted a second joint working meeting on voluntary amalgamation, with representatives of five administrations: the Pîrlița commune and the villages of Agronomovca, Alexeevca, Rădenii Vechi and Teșcureni. Around the table were the working groups of the town halls involved and the Government’s territorial representative, Ion Poia.
What „amalgamation” means, briefly
„Voluntary amalgamation” is the official term for merging several town halls into one. The idea behind the reform: small town halls, with insufficient budgets and staff, cannot deliver quality services; united, they would have more money, specialists and the ability to attract projects. „Voluntary” means the localities decide for themselves whether to join — usually after public consultations and a vote of the local councils.
The fact that the discussion has reached a second working meeting, with groups designated in each town hall, shows this is no longer an intention on paper but a process under way. According to the town hall, the meeting discussed implementation stages, inter-institutional cooperation and the prospects for developing local administration.
Two maps being drawn in parallel
For the resident of the Ungheni district, the big picture matters: consolidation is not happening only around the county seat. If the Pîrlița nucleus materialises, the district’s administrative map could reshape around several poles — the municipality of Ungheni on one side, and larger communes such as Pîrlița on the other.
How many residents the new unit around Pîrlița would gather, and what its centre would be, was not communicated. The final decisions remain with the local councils of each locality, after consulting citizens.