Balti residents might pay higher water charge

The Government of Moldova and the local authorities in Balti are considering the possibility of setting a reasonable water charge for the municipality. A higher water charge is needed as the Balti water supplier Aqua Nord has debts of over 40 million lei to the state-run electric power distributor RED Nord. The issue was discussed at a meeting of the governmental commission for remedying the situation in the energy sector on Tuesday evening, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said the situation in the municipality of Balti is critical. According to him, the residents of the municipality could be disconnected from the water supply in order to prevent the accumulation of new debts. The artesian well water is proposed as alternative, but it is of a poor quality. “The water in the artesian wells is not drinkable. We cannot allow the people to use it. The problem can be solved if the charges are adjusted according to political, not economic criteria,” said Minister of the Environment Gheorghe Salaru. According to Salaru, Aqua Nord has few customers and a large part of them have debts. “The industrial consumers have the largest debts. They can use technical water, but do not do it.” The residents of the municipality of Balti now pay 10 lei per cubic meter of water. This charge was fixed in 2008.