Prime Minister Zinaida Creceanyi asked the members of the Government to be very attentive and conscientious when working with figures, Info-Prim Neo reports. The request was made at the last meeting of the Government, while the director general of the Agency for Land Relations and Cadastre Alexandru Bannicov was reporting on the implementation of the program on the utilization of new lands and enhancement of land fertility in 2007. “This information, which consists mainly of figures, must be reviewed and corrected before being presented to the public. Making a simple calculation, when adding the figures from two columns they do not come to the sums presented in the third column,” she told Bannicov. Yet, both the Premier and the other members of the Government agreed that the sums needed to put the new lands to good account and increase the fertility of land are much higher than those planned in the budget and that are allocated with delay as it was ascertained. Over 59 million lei or over 99% of the allocated sums was used in 2007 for the purpose. About 55 million lei was used to build hydrotechnical systems. There were created 32 ponds with 1.5 million cubic meters of water. They protect the fields and the houses from flooding and can be used for irrigation. The ponds were built in Colimcauti and Grimancauti villages in Briceni district, Cosauti and Oclanda villages in Soroca district, Ialpugeni and Hartop villages in Cimislia district. Hydrotechnical systems were constructed to strengthen the banks of the precipices in Dancu village in Hancesti district, Pepeni village in Sangerei district, Giurgiulesti village in Vulcanesti district. Some 705,000 hectares of wetland were drained, especially in the villages of Floresti district, where the level of phreatic waters is increasing. The draining works were continued on such rivers and rivulets as Ialpug, Comrat, Racatar, Calarasi, Rautel, Fasesti, Lapusnita. The multiannual plantations were cleared on an area of 597 hectares last year. But the owners do not have the necessary machinery and equipment so these lands are reintroduced in the agricultural circuit with great delay. Protection forest strips were set up in the districts of Leova and Cahul on an area of 7.54 hectares. Bannicov said that the sums used to put the new lands to good account and increase the fertility of land should be increased to 60 million lei, as against 23 million lei planned in the budget for 2008. A sum of 22 million lei was used in 2007 for the purpose.