It's a sign!!

Bravo! In times of recession, wouldn't dough have been better spent financing the rapidly dwindling pensions? Wouldn't Elena Udrea have been wiser saving money on the ridiculous shoes she distributed to the flood victims and give building materials instead...even food would have been handier - and what about the new 3D roadsigns she has come up with that will (or already has) cost 850,000 euros out of the coffers?? A complete finger up at the pensioners looking at that 15% cut in money already earned and deemed illegal by the courts... I really do worry about the minister of tourism, not to mention the rest of the 'guignols'...

This from the Bucharest Herald:

Elena Udrea brings “aids” to Saucesti flood victims: high heeled shoes and chocolate

Elena Udrea wanted to show that she’s a responsible minister who cares about the faith of the Romanians and went to Saucesti village, destroyed by the floods, with aids for the victims. The Minister of Tourism and Regional Development came with several filled bags, but she proved uninspired when she shopped. Instead of bringing basic food, for daily meals and comfortable clothes, Elena Udrea shared chocolate and high heeled shoes to the people. 

Convinced that they would be just as thrilled as her by the gifts, Udrea invited the people to chose more what they liked, not what they needed, from the bags. 

"We have beautiful shoes too" Udrea told the women. One of the women who received shoes said she couldn’t use them and she wanted to give them back if Udrea accepted them. Mihai Banu, Bacau PDL deputy, who went with Udrea to Saucesti, tried to save the situation, making a joke and said that the shoes are “very good for a party.” 

The minister told the children she emptied a filling station when she bought the chocolate for them.

The minister’s visit in Saucesti comes two days after being criticized in the media that she didn’t respect  the demand of PM Emil Boc, addressed to all the ministers, to visit the villages affected by floods and help the victims. Udrea went to Negresti- Oas on Tuesday, dressed in popular costume and talked to the people about the national brand of Romania, without mentioning anything about the floods.

This is from Romania Libera:

840.000 de euro pentru indicatoare turistice 3D

14 Iulie 2010

840.000 de euro pentru indicatoare turistice 3D

Ministerul Dezvoltării Regionale şi Turismului va plăti 840.000 euro, fără TVA, pentru indicatoare turistice. Nu sunt însă orice fel de indicatoare. Ca să atragă turişti în ţară, Ministerul a comandat indicatoare în relief, adică cu efect 3D."Este pur şi simplu eleganţă şi preţiozitate. Autoritatea are de ales între cele clasice şi cele clasice la care se ambutisează numerele şi cifrele. Oricum amândouă sunt pe fundal maro reflectorizant, numai că unele le au ambutisate, adică le are în relief", a declarat Radu Spirea, propietarul firmei producătoare de indicatoare 3D.

Potrivit realitatea.net, Spirea a precizat că licitaţia nu a fost adjudecată la 850.000 de euro, ci la un preţ sub 200.000: "Suma bugetată este 850.000, dar nu şi cea adjudecată. Costul acestui proiect va fi undeva sub 200.000 de euro". În total, Ministerul Dezvoltării şi Turismului vrea să pună indicatoare la 1215 obiective turistice din ţară. Licitaţia a avut loc în februarie şi a fost finalizată acum, după mai multe contestaţii. Ministerul susţin că este unul din proiectele de dezvoltare turistică a României. Elena Udrea remarcă însă şi o atenţie tendenţioasă din partea presei pentru achiziţiile ministerului pe care îl conduce.

"Daca ar fi sa ne luăm după ce zice presa, n-ar trebui să mai muncim nimic. Ar trebui să închidem ministerul şi să plecăm acasă. Eu cred că o să ajungem în situaţia în care angajaţii din sectorul public n-or să mai vrea să lucreze cu ministrul Elena Udrea în vecii vecilor. Totuşi, este inacceptabil să se concentreze atâta atenţie şi nejustificat asupra activităţii unui minister, doar pentru că în fruntea lui mă aflu eu", a declarat Udrea. Indicatoarele turistice ar trebui montate până la sfârşitul anului 2010. Asemenea indicatoare turistice există în Paris şi Italia.

And finally this, an old one, from the Telegraph, demeaning to Roumania for a tourist to see a sign like this posted just outside Sinaia, for example - what kind of vision of the country does it give. After the initial roar with laughter and appreciation of humour, I gave it some thought and have decided that it's a very demoralising symbol of the Roumanian population - was this Elena again, or the ministry of transport? Either way, they should be removed...:

Romanian street sign warns drivers of 'drunk pedestrians'

Street signs warning Romanian drivers to be careful of drunken pedestrians lying on roads were erected by road safety chiefs worried about the "despairing" levels of accidents.

By Andrew Hough
Published: 3:30PM GMT 09 Mar 2010

The 10 bright red signs were erected by worried road safety officials in popular areas of the town of Pecica. Photo: CEN

Officials in Pecica, a village town about 13 miles from the Hungarian border in the country’s west, ordered the bright red signs, complete with the phrase “Attention - Drunks”.

• Sign Language: strange signs sent in by readers

The 10 road signs, which also show a person crawling on their knees while clutching a glass in one hand, were erected in popular nightspot areas close to the city's bars and restaurants.

Peter Antal, the Pecica Mayor, said the idea came after he visited an unnamed town in Germany, which had installed similar signs.

He said officials took action after a “despairing” number of accidents in the town, which has a population of about 13,000, caused by drunken revellers, with some even resulting in fatalities.

He said it was not motorists’ fault but blamed the town’s pedestrians, many of whom were not able to look out for themselves as they walked around the town, which is more than 300 miles west of the Romanian capital Bucharest.

"We are a border town and have lots of cars thundering through here all the time," he told local media.

"But we also have a very vibrant nightlife and the two don't mix.

“We have to target the drivers because by the time they get to this state, the pedestrians are beyond caring.”

He added: “In recent years… some traffic accidents (have) resulted, in some cases, even with deceased (people).

“We have thought about different options (on how) we can stop this and we decided that first step was to mount these signs.

“We must warn drivers that sometimes people who have little control over their actions can suddenly appear in the road.”

He denied the signs would send out the wrong message to the town’s residents, claiming they were a “positive contribution”.

Residents said they found the signs amusing.

Comments

[Nicole]

to really absorb.. Has that woman lost her mind? We are not talking just of a lack of common sense, we are taling about elementary decency: the high-heel episode and the waste of this huge amount of money - 840,000 Euro - spent on tourist signs.. Why? How many foreign tourists visit the country to justify such an expense? Better spend this money on the infrastructure since Romania's roads are terrible. This latest "project" of Elena Udrea is just another "invarteala". another way to give the job to friends or her acolytes. Shame on her and her gang of profiteers!