MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) – Local authorities should act in a more proactive way while defending the interests of people, First Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Maksim Ryzhenkov said at a public outreach event in Kobrin on 15 March, BelTA has learned.
“Local authorities do not always find the courage to ask higher ranking officials about things that go beyond their scope of authority. In my opinion, you need to act more confidently in this regard, because you defend the interests of people who live here. Local authorities should try to resolve a problem, even if it needs addressing higher ranking authorities. The attitude to the government in general in many ways depends on how people's issues are addressed on the ground,” Maksim Ryzhenkov said.
This way he responded to the problem voiced by a mother of many children from the agro-town of Imenin, Kobrin District. The family was given a land plot of about 18 square meters to build a house. During the construction, careless builders went beyond the boundaries of a plot by 2 square meters. Appeals to the land management service, the village council, the district executive committee did not bring any results – all of them referred to the violation of the instruction during the construction.
“This is our fellow citizen with six children, a large family. The president says on every occasion that demographic security is one of the country's top priorities. We urge women not to be afraid to have children, saying that all issues will be resolved, while we are not able to handle the issue with two square meters. There is a solution to this problem, but, of course, someone should take responsibility for it,” he said. He expressed confidence that the problem of the large family will be resolved in the near future.
A public outreach event hosted by the Kobrin Regional Executive Committee lasted more than two hours. During this time, Maksim Ryzhenkov considered more than a dozen issues - about the construction of a water supply system and a road in two suburban villages, the allocation of a land plot for a monastery cemetery, complaints about the quality of repair of a residential building and the provision of medical services, a land dispute between neighbors. Moreover, not only residents of Kobrin District, but also Pinsk, Brest and even Minsk came to voice their grievances.
“We found answers to almost all questions, with the exception of those that should be decided in a court. Some issues will be taken under control by the Belarus President Administration. I think that by joint efforts we will resolve them in the near future,” Maksim Ryzhenkov said.
