The National Network of Activists “Pune Umarul” (“Put your Shoulder to the Wheel”) submitted a petition to the Government whereby it asks for information about the quality of drinking water in the Republic of Moldova. The petition was signed by over 2,500 people from 40 communities.
In a news conference at IPN, Ala Balan, a member of the National Network of Activists “Pune Umarul” of Schineni, Soroca, said that by this petition the signatories request the Government to provide accessible information about the quality of water and its impact on health. The petitioners want to know how the quality of water changed in time, what the Government plans to do to improve the quality of water and how consumers are protected.
Ala Balan gave as example Schineni village of Soroca district, where the water contains large quantities of nitrates, including the water used at the local kindergarten that is attended by 70 children. “After consulting a number of specialists, we decided to install a filter, but this didn’t help as the nitrates didn’t disappear. Together with the local public authorities, we decided to purchase bottled water, but this solution is expensive,” started Ala Balan.
The activists noted that even if the information about the quality of drinking water should be public, the local authorities of only two of the 32 districts contacted provided the requested information.
Valeriu Musteata, a member of the National Network of Activists “Pune Umarul” of Cahul municipality, said they requested information about the water supplied trough mains, water from wells and springs and bottled water. The information should be accessible to all the interested consumers. Not even in the case of bottled water, are the chemical parameters always indicated.
“We all want to live in a country where each of us, each citizen, would have free access to drinking water that would be accompanied by information about its quality” stated Elena Bibic, activist from Gotesti, Cantemir.
According to the activists, even if the Government has a water supply and sewerage strategy for whose implementation a lot of money was allocated, the effectuate not visible and the people remain uninformed about the quality of the consumed water.
The National Network of Activists “Pune Umarul” is a civic, politically unaffiliated group that consists of activists from different parts of the country.
