Five hectares of Tineretului park cleared for aqua land

Blue Ciel's representative, Marcel Toader, says the opposite: "We only carried out sanitation work on the site, together with the Sector 4 City Hall. The community police evacuated people who had taken shelter there. We didn't cut down any trees. We were fined for grooming 22 trees and cutting down one tree without authorization. Otherwise, all we cut were saplings and branches. In total, there are 136 trees on the land. We're going to clear 46 more after we get the clearing permit. When we finish the work, we will plant some fir trees.

Mircea Raicu, one of the capital's deputy mayors, claims that the association between ALPAB and the private investor is illegal: "The contract under which ALPAB associated with Blue Ciel was illegal, because it was signed without the approval of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, as ALPAB wanted. If you change the use of a piece of land, you need a CGMB decision. The land in question was used as a park, and now they are going to build there".

Interestingly, the deforestation has taken place, although ALBAB claims that it has terminated the contract to build the aqua park. "On 29.04.2009, ALPAB entered into a public-private partnership with SC Bleu Ciel SRL. ALPAB's contribution was the land it manages in the Youth Park, in order to build an aqua park for amusement and leisure. According to art. 7.1.1.1 of the joint venture contract, SC Bleu Ciel SRL undertakes to submit the documents for obtaining the building permit within 6 months from the date of the handing over of the land by ALPAB, i.e. 19.05.2009. Thus, on 17.11.2009, Bleu Ciel notified ALPAB that the file for obtaining the building permit, with number 51652, registered at the City Hall Sector 4, was submitted. According to art. 9.4 of the joint venture contract, SC Bleu Ciel SRL had the obligation to obtain the building permit within 12 months from the submission of the documentation, i.e. 16.11.2010. Under these circumstances, the contract between ALPAB and SC Bleu Ciel SRL was terminated on 16.11.2010, without any formalities being fulfilled and without payment of damages or any other kind of compensation. It should be pointed out that the allegations made by the representatives of Bleu Ciel are unfounded, as there was no information regarding the notifications of termination of the contract, given that they were sent to Bleu Ciel SRL both by fax and by letter of acknowledgment of receipt. These notifications were ignored by the company, and on 14.02.2011, Bleu Ciel sent an address with registration number 101, by which we were informed that on 02.02.2011 (the date on which the contract was already terminated by right) they had requested the City Hall of Sector 4 to expedite the procedures for issuing the building permit", reads a press release sent by ALPAB. The Bleu Ciel company claims, however, that this contract was not terminated, otherwise they would not have started deforestation: "ALPAB has not sent Bleu Ciel any official communication regarding the alleged failure to fulfill the contractual obligations that we have assumed. Any type of correspondence between the parties must comply with the contractual clauses, which oblige the Associates not only to ensure that the text of the document is sent, but also to confirm receipt of it. The contract is therefore perfectly valid", Marcel Toader told HotNews.ro.

Although this is public domain and every citizen of the capital should know about the 5 hectares of the Youth Park, no one can say for sure whether this contract has been terminated or not, because ALPAB has not made public any act to prove this, and Blue Ciel continues the works.

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The land on which the aqua land is intended to be built is in the Tineretului Park, having mostly V1 function - public parks and gardens with unlimited access, and V3 - a small portion where a parking lot for the Children's Palace was planned to be built.

Blue Ciel's representative, Marcel Toader, claims the opposite: "We only executed land sanitation works, together with the 4th District City Hall. Community police evicted the persons who had found shelter there. We did not cut down any trees. We were fined for sanitizing 22 trees and for cutting one without approval. Apart from that, we only cut saplings and branches. In total, there are 136 trees on site. We shall cut down 46 after we receive a deforestation approval. Upon completion of the works, we shall plant several fir trees."

Mircea Raicu, one of the Bucharest City Hall's Vice Mayors, claims the association between ALPAB and the private investor is illegal: "The contract based on which ALPAB associated with Blue Ciel was illegal, because it was signed without the approval of the General Council of Bucharest Municipality, according to ALPAB's wish. Changing the destination of a land plot requires the approval of the CGMB [General Council of Bucharest Municipality]. The plot at issue functioned as a park, and now buildings will be erected on it".

What is interesting is that the deforestation went on, despite ALPAB's claim to have terminated the contract for the construction of the aqua park. "On 29.04.2009, ALPAB entered into a public-private partnership with SC Bleu Ciel SRL. ALPAB's contribution consisted in the land plot administered by it in Tineretului Park, intended for the construction of an aquatic park for amusement and recreation activities. According to Art. 7.1.1 of the Association Contract, SC Bleu Ciel SRL undertook to submit the documents for the building permit within 6 months from the delivery of the land plot by ALPAB, i.e. 19.05.2009. Thus, on 17.11.2009, Bleu Ciel notified ALPAB that the file for the obtainment of the building permit was registered under number 51652 with the 4th District City Hall. According to Art. 9.4 of the Association Contract, SC Bleu Ciel SRL had the obligation to obtain the building permit within 12 months from the submission of the documentation, i.e. by 16.11.2010. Under the circumstances, the contract between ALPAB and SC Bleu Ciel SRL ceased on 16.11.2010, without any formalities being required and without the payment of damages or any other indemnification. The allegations of Bleu Ciel's representatives, that they were not informed by notice of termination of the contract, are ungrounded, considering that notices were sent to SC Bleu Ciel SRL by fax, as well as by letter with acknowledgment of receipt. Such notices were ignored by the company, and on 14.02.2011, Bleu Ciel sent the letter bearing registration number 101, informing us that on 02.02.2011 (on which date the contract was already terminated de jure) they had requested the 4th District City Hall to speed up the procedure for the issuance of the building permit", according to a press release sent by ALPAB.

However, Bleu Ciel claims such contract was never terminated, otherwise they wouldn't have commenced the deforestation works: "ALPAB did not send to Bleu Ciel any official communication regarding the alleged non-fulfilment by us of our contractual obligations. Any type of correspondence between the parties should abide by the contractual clauses which compel the Associates not only to make sure that the text of the document was transmitted, but also that its receipt was confirmed. Consequently, the contract is perfectly valid", declared Marcel Toader for HotNews.ro.

Although the land plot at issue is public domain and any inhabitant of Bucharest is entitled to information about the 5 hectares in Tineretului Park, nobody can say with certainty whether the contract was terminated or not, because ALPAB has not yet made public any document in support of such fact, and Blue Ciel continues the works.

Info plus

The land plot on which the Aqualand is intended to be constructed in located in Tineretului Park, and mainly enjoys function V1 - public parks and gardens with unlimited access - and function V3 - a small portion was intended for the construction of a parking lot serving Children's Palace.