Romanians stop work for 15 minutes to call for highway construction

BUCHAREST, march 15 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people across Romania stopped their work for 15 minutes on Friday afternoon to join a national protest over the poor roads and lack of highways in the country.

The initiation came from Stefan Mandachi, a young entrepreneur from northeastern county of Suceava, who at the beginning of march called on people to stop together what they are doing for 15 minutes on march 15, at 15:00 local time, as a protest to the authorities for their lack of interest in building highways.

At the time of protest, Mandachi also inaugurated the one meter of highway which he himself ordered to be built on his own land, which is symbolized as the first meter of highway in the region of Moldova, one of the three major historical regions that make up the country of Romania.

The protest was joined by drivers, students, policemen, large and small companies, many local officials of all political colors. Even the head of state President Klaus Iohannis voiced his support in a statement.

In some cities, including in the capital city of Bucharest, people even blocked the traffic for 15 minutes.

Romania's road infrastructure construction has been going at a very slow pace in the latest three decades. The total length of the expressway is only 805 kilometers, while most of the other roads are not in very good conditions.

Due to the lack of modern infrastructure, Romania tops the blacklist of road casualties in the European Union, with some 2,000 deaths each year. Enditem