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President
20 December 2018, 13:12

Belarus president wants affordable and smart city planning solutions in Minsk

MINSK, 20 December (BelTA) - It is essential to step up efforts to create comfortable city environment in Minsk, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with Minsk authorities on 20 December, BelTA informs.

“Further development of Minsk should be, first of all, spurred by the renovation of existing territories rather than by new construction projects. Huge territories are occupied by industrial facilities, and these areas can be used in a more efficient way. The transport burden becomes unequal. Certain streets and junctions are overloaded. Affordable and smart solutions are needed. And do not touch the green space,” the head of state said.

“Please remember that a special group is monitoring the Internet and knows what the authorities are doing with trees and parks all over the country. And the president is immediately informed about it in letters. We are looking into all the cases,” the Belarusian leader said. “Before hacking down a tree think how many trees you planted. Greenery is important for health. Think about children.”

The president also demanded to prevent housing developers from changing the projects and building houses without parking places, social facilities, other urban amenities. “Does it reduce the final cost? They pocket this money, while the burden on the infrastructure and budget increases to a critical level,” the head of state remarked.

The president also mentioned a lack of coordination in the activities of various agencies at the local level. “This can be seen on examples. In some places roads are repaired first, then utility services break the asphalt and lay pipes, then electricity and communication network are replaced… People see all this,” the Belarusian leader said.

Alexander Lukashenko also spoke about the housing and utilities sector of Minsk which is a complex with the biggest number of consumers. “Flawless operation of this sector is important for the development of the economy, health and working efficiency of people, public sentiments, and the reputation of the authorities. Many problems may seem small from the point of view of the city. But they create discomfort for many people and turn into a big problem in due course. The Minsk mayor should work out an efficient system of timely response,” the president instructed.

He added that the key task for Minsk is the same as for the entire country. It is to raise the quality of services and reduce related expenses. “For example, heat losses fell from 13% to 8%. You should check. It is good but not enough. The losses must not exceed 5%. This will be a good indicator for Minsk,” Alexander Lukashenko believes.

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