Protest Against Battery Factory: Mother Of Disabled Child Was Inspected

An unknown person has written a false report against the Brest resident.

Maryja Halaliuk from Brest brings up her disabled son, who needs almost round-the-clock care. She and her husband participate in protests against the construction of the battery factory in Brest. After the publication of the article about them in the independent media, the child services received a complaint that Maryja "spends every night hanging around with four men near the entrance of the factory, sleeping in a car with them." The author of the report has offered to take the child from the woman to the shelter, and the inspection was conducted in the family.

Euroradio report is about what the representatives of the child services saw at Maryja Halaliuk's house, how the visit went and whether the disabled child will be taken away from the Brest woman.

Brest citizen Vania is 12 years old. He has a rare genetic disease of Hallerworthen-Spatz. He is in on bed with a medical device next to him. Vania's mother Maryja Halaliuk approaches the bed, picks up the tube that is attached to the equipment and puts it to her son's mouth.

"This procedure is called sanitation. This is when a child does not have a swallowing reflex, he cannot swallow saliva. When it gathers, it has to be taken out. The procedure is vital," - Maryja says.

The sanitation process is ongoing. The frequency with which it has to be done depends on various factors: weather conditions, the condition of the child. Sometimes she has to use the electric pump every 20 minutes, sometimes every 3-4 minutes. The exception is at night, when the child sleeps quietly. The rest of the time, the parents have to watch the child in shifts. Maryja's husband works, and she receives a care allowance for the disabled person - from the state she receives monthly 500-600 rubles. However, taking care of Vania requires about 1200 rubles in total - charitable organizations help her.

Together with Maria, Vania and human rights activists, we are waiting for the Commission of Education Administration of Maskouski district of Brest to come. According to the woman, their visit is a consequence of her and her husband's participation in protests against the construction of the battery factory.

"It all started when an article about watching the plant was published in Salidarnasts. And there was some kind of false report, where a lot of nasty things were written about me and my family. Since I'm raising a disabled child, a mother of two children, today I'm going to be visited by the child services, who want to get acquainted with my family, to see the living conditions," - Maryja says.

A three-person commission inspected the apartment and drew up an inspection report. They had no complaints about the conditions in which the child lives. They did not object to the presence of journalists and human rights defenders in the apartment. The civil servants admitted that the inspection was the result of a letter that their leadership had received: "And we are the lowest level in this structure."

"The position we take against the battery factory? Any citizen in the city of Brest should fight a little for clean air, for a healthy nation, for a healthy future for our children. And the fact that my family is raising such a child is not my minus, it's my plus," - Maria sums up.

The protests against the construction of a battery factory in Brest have lasted for over a year. The last rally, held on Sunday, June 9, ended with a meeting of protesters with the head of Brest city executive committee, Aliaksandr Rahachuk. He mentioned the conclusion of the regional environmental committee, which says that the plant exceeds the standards of permissible emissions of pollutants into the air. The mayor suggested one of the leaders of the protesters Dziamjan Lepiasevich to gather a group of 10 people to meet with the chairman of the regional executive committee, Anatol Lis. Together they will discuss the problem of the battery factory. The meeting is expected to take place on Wednesday, June 12.