The head of the Western Romanian Temes/Timiș county consumer protection office demanded Temesvár/Timișoara mayor Nicolae Robu to submit to a psychological test. While this part of the news is obviously a publicity stunt, it also has a serious side and is a response to a stunt of Robu who was also was more than simply seeking attention.
The liberal mayor of Temesvár boarded on March 18 an aerial platform truck and proceeded to cut the dozens of cables installed by various cable television and internet service providers. This was the latest move in a years-long fight of his against telecom companies whose hefty black cables are both an eyesore and a public risk, threatening to overwhelm the power pillars. Robu has for years been asking telecom companies to move the cables underground, giving them several deadlines which the companies disregarded every time.
The move left half the city (with a population of over 300,000) without cable television or internet. More importantly, it happened on the eve of a national test run of the secondary school graduation exam system. Temes county OPC head Sorin Susanu had now asked the mayor to take a psychological test required for those who work at altitude and those who work with live electrical equipment.
In addition, he also launched an investigation on how man consumers have been affected, what their losses were and motioned for fines against Robu. Susanu said hospitals or other vital services could also have been affected by Robu’s action and the investigation will also take that into account.
Susanu is himself a publicity hog. In 2017, after a Romanian youtuber published a video in which he was refused to be served at the fast food stand of a Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc mall because he only spoke Romanian, launched a probe into the case and fined the mall for RON 10,000 (EUR 2,100). A few years ago at a company party he was photographed taking an axe to the neck of a young woman, simulating a beheading.
Title image: Temesvár mayor on his way up to cut illegal internet and television cables (Inquam Photos/Virgil Simonescu)
