President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Polotsk to dot the i's on housing and communal services issues

"I am not going to teach you technologies. If the fodder is of poor quality, we will again have to deal with cattle mortality," the Belarusian leader pointed out.

"I know you are interested (in good performance indicators. - Editorial note), but sometimes the opposite happens. Pay attention. Quality, and quality again!" the President urged.

During his working trip, Alexander Lukashenko demanded that the issue of municipal waste collection and processing be resolved within the next 2-3 years. "We will have to take this height by storm. This is a very important area," the Belarusian leader emphasized.

"It is a disgrace that we take waste to landfills, bury it, and create mountains around. This is one of the areas that needs to be addressed. Firstly, it is profitable, and secondly, we are improving the environment and cleaning up the country. It also creates jobs and provides raw materials for industry. We will have to focus heavily on this," the Head of State noted.

He pointed out that wealthy Switzerland recycles 80-90% of certain types of waste. "And we cannot even reach 50%," the President said.

In Polotsk, the Head of State was also shown an exhibition of utility vehicles, including boiler equipment. The President drew attention to the need to expand the use of local types of fuel, which is important from the perspective of substituting imported energy resources.

During the subsequent meeting on the development of housing and communal services in Belarus, the Head of State noted that much has been done in terms of creating new equipment for the housing and communal services sector. "This is the main thing. Firstly, the equipment is powerful, not cheap, and not everything is in order with the maintenance of this equipment in housing and communal services, as well as in agriculture. This is related to the level of personnel training. But this is no longer the future. This is the present. Many housing and communal services organizations already have such equipment. And without this equipment, there is nothing to talk about regarding order in housing and communal services," the Belarusian leader emphasized.

During the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko oriented the housing and communal services sector towards further effective development and elimination of existing shortcomings.

The President noted that the topic of the meeting was dictated by life, as almost the entire population of the country uses housing and communal services daily. "And the extent to which people are satisfied with their quality and accessibility directly affects public sentiment. Consequently, it largely shapes the socio-political situation and the level of trust in the current government," he remarked.

Alexander Lukashenko recalled that in October 2017, at a republican seminar-meeting on the development of housing and communal services, the work of this sector was reviewed. It was determined that the communal sector should become priority number one for regional leaders. Subsequently, relevant decisions were enshrined in Directive No. 7.

"Today, as I am informed, much has been done in terms of transparency in tariff formation, cost reduction, and ensuring the payback of almost all types of services, increasing the reliability of engineering networks and equipment. We must not forget that the main criterion for the effectiveness of the housing and communal services system is the consumer's assessment of the quality of services provided, an ordinary person. And as long as criticism is heard regarding the sector, it is too early to rest," the Belarusian leader emphasized.

Alexander Lukashenko said that once, when meeting with the head of the initiative group, he asked them to continue collecting signatures, even though they already had a sufficient number. "I asked then not because we lacked signatures. We receive a huge amount of information from below – about what is happening there. All of it is analyzed, and the main issues that concern people crystallize and are presented to the President. Constantly, up to a quarter of all issues concern housing and communal services and what needs to be done with the housing and communal sector. Therefore, a month ago, as part of monitoring the implementation of my instructions, this meeting was scheduled. This decision was not made yesterday," the Belarusian leader explained.

He noted that during the election campaign, any statement, action, or step by the President is now being scrutinized by "alternatives" under a magnifying glass, and they are looking for hidden pitfalls everywhere. "There are no hidden pitfalls. We simply need to address this issue, which is very important and concerns our people. We will continue to address these issues," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

Returning to the topic of the meeting, the President pointed out that criticism regarding the quality of housing and communal services is heard quite often. Of course, there are different people, including so-called complainers, but they are few. "But we need to look into their cases too, because sometimes they tell the truth," Alexander Lukashenko remarked.

"There are people who complain, and who have no one to help them. And we must help them," the Head of State emphasized. "We should not dismiss anyone. Where necessary, we must help people."

Thus, in 2019, every fifth appeal from citizens received by the Presidential Administration concerned dissatisfaction with the work of utility services. This trend continues this year. Most often, people complain about the quality of major and current repairs, and here Alexander Lukashenko admitted that sometimes the work is indeed done extremely poorly.

In addition, people complain about the improper maintenance of entrances, however, the President noted, sometimes the residents themselves are to blame for the poor condition of the entrances.

Criticism is also heard regarding the insufficient improvement of courtyards and settlements; here, the involvement of not only the authorities with the attraction of budget funds, but also the initiative of the citizens themselves is important.

There are also many complaints about the recently created 115 service. The Head of State instructed to consider how to improve its work to avoid formalism.

"There are many complaints about the work of the recently created 115 service. It's like an ambulance. It was the right decision. And this service must exist independently of housing and communal services. This service should be located in the district executive committee, somewhere in another organization, where all complaints from the population are received. You dial 115 - a dispatcher answers you, records the complaint, gives it to the executor, and this service monitors how the order is executed. It's a good system, but there are many complaints," said the Head of State.

He instructed the Government to thoroughly investigate how this service functions. "So that there is no formalism here, so that it works like an ambulance," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko.

"The problems of the industry are not fully resolved. And today, after a detailed discussion, we must find answers to all existing questions," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko.

He demanded a report on the bottlenecks in the housing and communal services system, who is not working effectively at what stage to ensure its efficient functioning, and whether there is a need to improve state regulation in this area. "An objective analysis of the situation and clear business proposals are needed," said the Head of State.

The President also reacted to some published negative information that in Polotsk, improvement works were carried out in the city before his arrival: "There are originals who are concerned that the city had to be 'licked clean' before the President's arrival - sweep the streets, paint the benches... There are such people, a small number of them: everything that is good is bad, and what is bad is also bad."

He stressed that everything that has been done will remain for the city residents. "When I arrived here and saw a clean and tidy city, I will not take it with me. It will all remain here. Therefore, do not worry, residents of my native Polotsk, we will not take anything away," the President said.

During the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko spoke in favor of simplifying the conditions for acquiring land plots outside large cities. The President noted that there are plenty of picturesque places in Belarus where one can acquire small plots, including in villages and farmsteads, for subsidiary farming and for trips out of town with family. The value of such plots has particularly increased in the current difficult epidemiological situation.

"The pandemic has prompted us to go to the villages and start buying these plots," he said. "I want to appeal to Belarusians not to miss this opportunity to acquire a piece of land in a village, in a remote farmstead, to restore a house that has been abandoned there, or to build a small 'hut', as people say, to come there on weekends, to take the elderly there for some time, as now, during the pandemic."

"Do not give up on the household plots where you were born and lived. And if there are abandoned ones, buy them. They cost pennies today. Tomorrow you can get rich from these plots," Alexander Lukashenko continued. According to him, understanding the value of such acquisitions, citizens of neighboring countries, Russia and Ukraine, for example, are already buying plots.

The head of state instructed the responsible officials to work out the issue of simplifying the conditions for acquiring plots outside cities for those Belarusians who want to invest funds in this. It is necessary to ensure that decisions are made without unnecessary delays at the local level. "Paid the money - received the document for land ownership," the President outlined the main principle.

"Serious attention should be paid to this," he stressed.

At a meeting in Polotsk, Alexander Lukashenko instructed to more actively use local types of fuel in the country, as well as to consolidate the export of relevant products.

The Head of State noted that, for example, peat, wood chips, and sawdust are literally lying around. "And we are traveling and begging for natural gas and oil. This is what needs to be used, and they have learned to do it in the Vitebsk region. This experience needs to be spread throughout the country, because we have plenty of dying wood today," the Belarusian leader said.

"Well done, you've got going with pellets. You built these plants instantly. You started producing fuel," the President praised.

At the same time, he instructed the Government to work on the issue so that pellet producers do not compete with each other in the European market, where there is a high demand for such products. "If we start competing with each other there, we will drive down the price, and we will go into the negative in terms of profitability. Take the sale of products into one pair of hands," said Alexander Lukashenko.

Internet portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus.