A solidarity fund for projects to supply drinking water to the settlements that are not yet connected to the water pipes will be set up in Moldova. The money will be collected from en-users’ contributions – by 1% of the water charge. The initiative was put forward by the Ministry of the Environment, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a thematic conference, Minister of the Environment Gheorghe Salaru said that there are many settlements in the country that do not have water and sewerage systems and the people use polluted water from wells. Such a solidarity fund exists in France, which in 2011 directed about €40 million to the African countries for projects aimed at ensuring access to drinking water and the functionality of the sewerage systems. According to the minister, Moldova in April will hold a dialogue with the Society for European Solidarity to ask for the assistance and technology needed to create the fund. “We hope that this solidarity fund will be set up in the near future. Every person or every community that will join this fund will have the right and the moral obligation to help those who do not have access to the water pipeline,” said Gheorghe Salaru. He also said that the solidarity fund will be created by this yearend. Currently, almost half of the rural population does not have access to drinking water and uses water from wells, which is mainly polluted.