BREST, 6 September (BelTA) – While in Brest on 6 September Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined his view on the construction of an accumulator factory in the city, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I don't think my opinion will be very original if I say I certainly side with the people. The situation has already resulted in arrests, criminal cases, and the rest. Unfortunately, these actions were taken when all the information became available to the president.”
The head of state said that as soon as he heard about the problems relating to the construction of the battery factory, this information was subjected to thorough verification. It is unacceptable to swing the sword without fully understanding the situation, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
“After I had the information verified, I saw that the people, who are primarily concerned about ecology, their lives, and lives of their children, are mainly correct. I saw violations committed by individual civil servants and individual businessmen, who've promised to build a factory we need generally speaking,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that Belarus had no accumulator factory back then and the project in Brest looked good. It had to be implemented, however, in compliance with all the requirements, the head of state stressed.
“But the project is not worth ignoring people and destroying the environment. We've just started cleaning up the country. This is why I gave instructions to get to the bottom of the problem. When they saw the president keeps an eye on it, several people were arrested. Other ones are on the wanted list. To be exact, we know where they are. We will bring them home. No doubt about it. And then they will face prosecution to the full extent of the law,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president added if the accumulator factory in Brest gets built, it will have to comply with all the environmental standards. In his words, it is also necessary to give the right to order their own expert evaluation to local residents. “Only they will decide whether the factory will exist or not and what it will look like,” the head of state assured.
At the same time Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded that a surge of extreme nationalistic movements had emerged in Belarus in the wake of the Chernobyl catastrophe. “Where are they now? This nationalism was everywhere. It led to the fall of the Soviet Union and brought a lot of sorrow to the nations, particularly Belarusians. The situation [with the accumulator factory] is similar. Someone wants to reap political benefits from it. They go as far as to say the government needs to be replaced because the factory is bad. I would like wise, educated, and smart Brest residents to understand that those people will use any cause to get into positions of power. The current government will deal with this problem. Bigger problems have been dealt with. We will resolve it the way Brest residents want,” the Belarusian leader concluded.
