Ecologists Plead for Water Tariff Increase

Chisinau Territorial Organization of the Ecologist Movement of Moldova (OTC MEM), supported by Geologic Association „AgeoM”, Association for Information and Ecological Education „Ecosfera” and Water Supplier „Apa-Canal” Company, pleads for increasing water tariffs. At the same time, they are for diverting the right to set water tariffs from local councils to National Agency of Energy Regulations (ANRE). According to representatives of these associations, at present the water tariff issue has a political nature, and its modification is done without taking into account the real costs and necessity to renovate the aqueduct networks, sewerage pipes and biologic cleaning stations. Thus, only in 6 of those 30 towns where enterprises of SA “Apa-Canal” work, local councils approved this year new tariffs, realizing that localities could remain without aqueduct and sewerage. Other 15 local councils approved new tariffs last year. The other 15 enterprises cannot convince the local authorities, for 3 years already, that existent tariffs are much behind the inflation levels. For instance, the water tariff in the Capital was not changed since 2001. According to the OTC MEM chairman Vladimir Garaba, the low tariffs aggravate even more the situation of the aqueducts and cleaning station, needing major investments, and subsequently worsen the water quality. According to the chairman of Association „Ecosfera”, Corneliu Murza, the recent survey operated in 16 towns and Chisinau municipality shows that a great part of respondents consider water tariffs low, and 54% of those 645 questioned households are not satisfied with water quality. „Ecosfera” pleads for changing the accents in the financing policy in favor of reconstructing the evacuation and cleaning water stations, speeding up the revising process of tariffs and their compliance with enterprises’ real expenses, including equipment modernization. They are also for excluding differential tariffs, this practice being met only in Moldova. Because of high tariffs imposed to economic entreprises, many businessmen give up water services provided by „Apa-Canal”, seeking alternative sources of water supply. According to calculations made after the ANRE technology, the average tariff for water supply and sewerage is of 4.03 lei per 1 cubic meter of water. The price of 1 cubic meter of water in Chisinau is of 2.77 lei.