Beyond the guilty and the noise, the lessons that the state should learn after the incident at the Paltinu Dam

The events at the Paltinu Dam are more than just a regrettable incident. They are yet another clear proof that the Romanian state operates with serious glitches, with incomplete or ignored procedures, and with institutional reflexes that endanger the safety of citizens instead of protecting it. Colectiv, Rahova, Paltinu, etc. reveal the same reality: delayed reactions, lack of coordination, fragmented communication, and a desperate attempt to quickly find a scapegoat or a convenient excuse for public opinion.

Citizens are tired of sterile promises and reactive strategies. They do not ask for cosmetic explanations or politically chosen culprits. They demand professionalism, integrity, and a minimal capacity to learn from mistakes. The fact that, after years of similar incidents, state institutions behave as if they are caught by surprise every time shows not only a lack of preparedness but also an institutionalized indifference and a failure to learn from the lessons that have cost the lives of some of our fellow citizens.

The ministries, the government, the parliament, and the presidency seem more concerned with image than with responsibility. Their reactions are often constructed to calm public opinion, not to resolve the underlying problem. Once again, we see sterile press releases, conferences with vague statements, avoidance of accountability, and an endless cycle of explanations without consequences. While Romanians expect clarity and action, institutions operate under the logic of "let the storm pass and we will return to normal."

But this "normal" is exactly the problem

The current normal is a system in which responsibility dilutes to the point of disappearance, in which procedures are mentioned but not applied, in which warnings are ignored; when a tragedy occurs, a scapegoat is sought to protect the whole. It is an institutional culture that not only fails to prevent dysfunctions but allows them to accumulate until they become inevitable.

It is time for the state to abandon defensive reflexes and accept reality: it is not enough to react, it must prevent. It is not enough to comment; it must act. It is not enough to look for individual culprits; it must repair the system that repeatedly produces these errors, learning from the lessons of past disasters.

Any public system can face incidents. The difference between a mature state and a fragile one lies in how it responds. And Romania, at this moment, shows signs of worrying fragility. Citizens are tired of seeing the same problems emerge with every critical situation:

• lack of coordination

• incomplete or contradictory information

• absence of a unique and mandatory conduct

• minimal or non-existent responsibility

• evasion of accountability at the decision-making level

True responsibility does not mean condemning a person but repairing the mechanisms that allowed the mistake. True transparency does not mean publishing a statement, but showing the facts, procedures, and solutions. True reform does not mean promises but the firm application of necessary measures.

If the Romanian state does not seriously address these deficiencies, the events at Paltinu will not be the first or the last. They will simply be the next in a long list, in a cycle that will repeat until citizens realize that institutions are not prepared to protect them.

Romanians deserve more than this. They deserve a functional, coherent, and responsible state. It is the obligation of institutions to demonstrate that they can deliver this, not just to promise.

I believe that state institutions, up to the highest level, should not have named culprits (there are specialized institutions that carry out expertise activities on events and establish culpability), they should have presented to the people 3 lessons learned from the incident at the Paltinu Dam and 3 measures that will be taken so that such situations do not repeat in the future.

Top 3 Lessons Learned from the Incident at the Paltinu Dam

1. Lack of inter-institutional coordination. Each institution reacted on its own, without a unique mechanism for coordination, communication, and decision-making.

2. When functions become political rewards, systems fail. Paltinu shows what happens when institutions are filled with sinecurists and political appointees: incompetence, waste, and danger to people.

3. Hydrotechnical arrangements are essential for ensuring drinking water, flood protection, and producing the energy necessary for modern life. Unfinished hydrotechnical arrangements or the establishment of new hydrotechnical arrangements are essential to prevent such situations in the future.

Top 3 Measures to be Implemented in the Future to Prevent Such Situations

1. Creation of unique action and communication protocols in similar situations, within 6 months, mandatory for all involved institutions, with precise and verifiable responsibilities.

2. Administrative lustration. 12 months for the elimination of sinecurists and political appointees from state institutions. The only real measure to avoid such situations is to stop appointments based on political criteria: positions filled through genuine competition, verification of competence, public control, and criminal liability for abuse.

3. Completion within a maximum of 3 years of blocked hydrotechnical arrangements and the initiation of a national program for the establishment of new hydrotechnical arrangements. This would allow the elimination of situations where not 100,000 but 400,000 to 500,000 people go with buckets and jugs (not for 6 days but for 3 months, not once but every year), to fetch water for their homes.