Highway to sustainability?

Is it time to close down the whole project or is there a way of preserving at least a part of the project in Romania? This was the the question for VEBO-President Thomas Wüthrich before going to the Board Meeting of FPSC in Bucharest on november 20th 2015.

The perspectives for the community service (CS) workshops are very promising at the moment. The ministry of justice delegated the executing of CS and therefore also the financing to the city halls. For them this task is not among their priorities. Therefore FPSC cannot expect the city halls to (co-)finance the services of the CS-workshops. And the financial support of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)will end in Summer 2016.

Nevertheless the Board of FPSC decided to follow a forward and hopefully sustainable strategy. As the closing of the Timisoara workshop is on its way until the end of 2015, and the same seems to happen to the Brasov workshop by the end of June in 2016, at least the Bucharest workshop is supposed to offer its services beyond that date.

In the short run financing until the end of 2017 should be achieved by using what has been saved of the money from SDC and by the revenues coming from the recycling business.

For this purpose, last september VEBO already financed a truck for FPSC. Since then FPSC is able to collect WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) on ist own and generate more income. As the first two months of collecting and dismanteling of WEEE are very promising the Board will decide on its meeting in march 2016 if this strategy could have the desired results and therefore should be followed.

The evening before the meeting the Board went to see the presentation of three theatre plays, presented by prisoners as part of the european wide unique theatre festival for prisoners. With the help of external experts they rehearsed adapted plays or such written by themselves. The quality varied but it was just touching to see and feel the commitment for the project of all actors.