Over half of the residents of Durlesti town, which is within a stone’s throw of Chisinau, do not have access to the centralised water supply system, while over 70% do not have sewerage systems. Mayor of Durlesti Nicolae Crudu told Info-Prim Neo that the water and sewer problem in the town is very serious. The sewage flows directly into the street. Before the Lake “Valea Morilor” (“Valley of the Mills”) started to be cleaned, the sewage from Durlesti flowed into the lake. Now the used water and waste substances bypass the lake but flow into the Byc River, constituting a source of pollution for Chisinau town. This summer, the wells in Durlesti dried up and the people do not have drinking water. Though specialists ascertained that the water in most of the wells is not fit for drinking, the people continue to drink it because they do not have other solutions, the mayor said. In addition, the inhabitants of Durlesti have poor transport services. The only minibus route that crossed the town from one side to another, No.101, was restored recently, but the itinerary was shortened and only 17 minibuses now travel along the route – one third of the previous number. Nicolae Crudu says that the people are dissatisfied because the single trolleybus route, No.28, is available only to the residents that live one kilometre from Chisinau. The people living further have to wait for half an hour for the buses No.11 and for the crowded minibuses No.101. We have many projects, but no money, says the mayor. The town’s 12.4 million lei budget, which was approved on December 11 by the local Council, does not include resources for investment. Although this year’s budget is by about 2.6 million lei larger than last year, Nicolae Crudu says that the largest part of the additional resources will go to pay higher salaries to teachers and to cover the extra expenses of providing the children and students with food following the rise in the price of food products. About 10.5 million lei of the 12.4 million lei will be allocated to the education sector in Durlesti. The nursery schools in the town do not provide enough places; only 50% of the streets are now lit; the school No. 64, one of the three schools in the settlement, has not been repaired for 42 years, the mayor stated. Nicolae Crudu also said that Durlesti has very few economic entities and the fiscal collections for 2008 are expected to total only 5 million lei. The other 7.4 million lei needed to cover the town’s basic necessities will be allocated from the municipal budget. The sum of 5 million lei is derisory for a town with 20,000 inhabitants. The town had a large chemical plant several years ago, but it was closed down. 3,500 inhabitants of the town worked at the plant. Over 3,000 residents now work abroad, the mayor said. There are no other industrial facilities and large economic entities in the town. The small stores and cafes provide employment for very few people. The mayor says that the town does not have a local urbanity plan, while the municipal one does not envisage investment projects for Durlesti. The townspeople working in Chisinau do not have plans to invest in Durlesti. 70% of the town’s working population is employed in the capital. But this does not mean that the rest of the population works in Durlesti. Many are unemployed, while the pensioners and invalids total over 3,000, Nicolae Crudu said. The mayor also said that the taxes for withdrawing about 12.92 hectares of the town’s land from the agricultural circuit would have been a source of income. The Government made such a decision in order to build a residential district on that plot. The economic entity paid 10 million lei for the purpose, but all the money went to the state budget, in accordance with the law. The taxes for construction authorisations were increased about tenfold, but the money collected will not be enough to compensate for the incomes that could be obtained from the agricultural plot and this money should go to the local budget and not state budget. Two-three years will pass until the apartments in the new districts are sold and the levied taxes are transferred to the local budget, but the town needs this money now, the mayor said. At the same time, the Government withdraws the land from the agricultural circuit and gives it to foreign investors, but does not allow the residents of Durlesti to transform their five acres of agricultural land into plots of land for construction. Nicolae Crudu says that he received 5,000 applications from people that want to build private houses, but he cannot authorise them because the mayor’s office does not have available land.