Andrei Sharenda: Lukashenka Sold Out Everything, Now He Sells Out Land

Brest residents are ready to take the Square to stop illegal construction.

Residents of the city and suburbs concern about hazardous emissions, press-service of the Belarusian National Congress informs.

People got the refusal of the Brest City Executive Committee to organize the meeting with representatives of district, city and regional authorities to discuss the situation with the construction of the plant. A large group of indifferent people turned to the Brest Regional Executive Committee and offered to stop the construction. The authorities replied there were no grounds for it.

Residents of the city collected more than 35 thousand signatures and are ready to take the streets, if they are not heard. Activist of the European Belarus civil campaign, Brest leader of the Belarusian National Congress Andrei Sharenda told about the situation in the regional center:

- The place of construction is bothering us the most. It is next to Mikhavets river and it is also green suburb of Brest with lots of places of resort, settlements, regional hospital. The safety of battery production raises a great concern; a lot of lead is emitted into the atmosphere. It does not meet storage requirements of extremely and highly hazardous substances (according to the environmental impact statement, these are 1 063 tons of hazardous waste and 155 tons of extremely hazardous substances).

Being aware of a clear and present threat, the authorities have launched the construction secretly, all so-called public discussions were adopted retroactively.

- This is not an isolated case. Similar constructions with infringement of environmental standards exist in other settlements. Why do the authorities do this?

- All over the world, plants like IPower, pulp mill near Svetlahorsk close down, and only our authorities grasp at every legally and safety questionable projects in order to gain short-term investments. it works in China's favor, which is on the verge of the environmental catastrophe and tries to move harmful production out of its territory. The paradox is that Belarus is the only country in Europe where authorities do not care about health and safety of people. Lukashenka has sold out everything, and now he sells out the land. "Dirty" investors hear words "anything for your money". The regime in Belarus is ready to sell the land of the country to retain its power. But our children will have to pay the price.

- The authorities still ignore thousands of signatures collected, as well as appeals to the City Executive Committee. What are you further steps to prevent the construction of the plant?

- Activists directed official appeals to the City and Regional Executive Committees offering to hold a meeting on issues regarding the battery plant construction. The City Executive Committee replied that this was out of its competence; the Regional one responded that no grounds for temporary building prohibition existed. It was predictable.

Every collection of signatures should be supported by civil disobedience and protests, otherwise, the authorities will simply ignore them. Abolition of Decree No. 3 and building prohibition in Kurapaty are vivid examples. Only protest actions could make a difference. If the authorities do not freeze the construction in the near future, Brest residents will have no choice but to take the Square.