All the residents of villages, as the inhabitants of towns and cities, will pay solid waste collection taxes in about five years, Minister of Environment Valeriu Munteanu stated in the talk show “Pahomi” on Realitatea TV channel, IPN reports.

Valeriu Munteanu said that a national sanitation company is being created and the people will have to sign contracts with this company. “The people will be unable to throw litter everywhere. They will be obliged to sign a contract with this company. If they do not have such contracts, they will be fined for throwing litter in banned places, as they will not eat it,” he stated.

The minister realizes that the idea will meet with resistance, especially in villages, but considers that things will calm down in time. “It is also about the people’s mentality. Most of those living in villages do not accept the sewerage system. They say they do not want to have a toilet in the home. They want it to be outside, near the well from which they drink water. It the past, many didn’t want to pay for electrical power, but ultimately got used,” he said.

Valeriu Munteanu noted that the export of wood from Moldova will be banned in six months and the extraction of natural resources will be strictly regulated. “The natural resources are very limited and the gravel and some types of sand can disappear. The extraction of these materials from the Nistru and Prut Rivers is banned. They massively export wood from the Republic of Moldova at a time when only 12% of the country’s territory is wooded. In the European countries, the wooded areas represent at least 30% of the territory,” stated the minister.