Page 199 - Proceeding 2015

BRI?CARIU Roxana FAMP

LAKE OF UTILITIES. ACCESS TO LOCAL UTILITIES OF ROMA CITIZENS COMPARATIVE WITH
NON-ROMA POPULATION CCASP

1. INTRODUCTION

The Roma ethnic population, mainly the Eastern European one, still finds itself in disadvantage by the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
lack of access (and here the discussion can be taken so much further) to the public health system,
access to the education system, access to adequate housing and access to basic utilities.

Matter of fact, this article is going to tackle this exact subject: Roma population’s lack of access to the

Romanian public utilities system, a paradox that characterizes the modern society in which
discrimination and exclusion will, without any doubt, always lead to a lack of access to primary
resources for some individuals. According to the European Council, an estimated 1.85 million Roma

ethnics live in Romania (8.32% of the entire population), from which 22% are living in compact
communities.

Using the water utilities, electricity, gas or the sanitary sewers system are part of our daily routine. Our

30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest of stress and discomfort automatically increases in the event of restrictions in using one or more of
imagination is being reduce when, occasionally, one of the above resources in not functional. The level

these utilities. It is a challenge for most Europeans to envision everyday life without using water,
electricity or gas to their own liking.

2. AIM AND METHODS

The exclusion of the Roma ethnic citizens from the rights of using the Romanian public utilities system
is not a unique situation in Europe; Roma individuals from all over Central and Eastern Europe, Poland,

Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria are having similar problems regarding the access to
the main public utilities system.

Data from the “Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European Union” report, gathered

from various countries, brings to light the degree of access to public utilities of this ethnic group. For
example, In Slovakia only 19% of the Roma settlements had access to sewage, 41% had access to gas
supply and 63% to the main water supply, although 91% had access to the main power supply

(European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2009, 66).

A similar situation can be found in Slovenia, “where only 51% of the Roma households have access to
main electricity network, and only 75 % have access to safe drinking water".

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