"They Thought People Would Make A Row, Shout For A While, And Calm Down"

The situation around the battery factory near Brest reminds one of the conversation between a blind man and a deaf man.

At the same time, it plays into the Belarusian social and political model. Contrary to the laws of geometry, there is one sharp corner and two stupid ones in the triangle In the triangle "the authorities - the public - the iPower administration."

On the one hand, a year after the battery plant problem arose, the authorities recognized its existence and are trying to react somehow. But the reaction is a bit strange. The Brest regional executive committee has suspended the construction of the enterprise, which de-facto has already been built. Referring to some violations of environmental legislation, which are not reported in detail.

The plant's management, in its turn, claims that it does not know any violations.

Brest head Aliaksandr Rahachuk, who recently called the battery plant "the main problem for Brest," tried to clarify the situation around the plant. But his last meeting with the public did not add any more clarity. And only a few dozen people came to it.

Formally, the plant has been built and is at the commissioning stage. After all, the governor's decision did not say anything about this stage of work. What now?

The management of the plant, which has been keeping mouth shut for the last year, is also at a loss. The journalists have failed to get direct answers to the direct questions (how much the emission rate exceeds the designed one), no matter how hard they tried.

Instead, iPower suggests reading ornate reflections on the usefulness of their enterprise for the region.

It is also difficult to break this vicious circle because the whole system of relations between the authorities and society is not built on trust. Officials refuse to speak with the people frankly, in essence and on equal terms. Accordingly, the business community builds its relations with those who make key decisions most often according to the unwritten rules, and is not inclined to listen to a third party - the public, which it considers an extra wheel in the cart.

The case with the battery factory can, after all, if not break, then at least crack this construction. Perhaps the authorities and the business community have simply underestimated the ability of people from Brest and Brest district to defend their position to the end.

They thought people would make a row, shout for a while and calm down. But people, convinced of their rightness, decided otherwise. And thus created a far-reaching precedent.

It is probably more convenient for officials to hide the truth somewhere, to make it half-truths or to throw it away from people's eyes, so as it wouldn' t interfere with their control of "stability", taking "balanced strategic decisions" behind the scenes, in the silence of the offices. They can be understood in some ways. For the sake of justice, public opinion does not always speak the truth either.

But in the twenty-first century it is necessary to talk to people. It is necessary to inform them: not only about successes and achievements, but also about who is to blame and what to do. Otherwise, citizens will accuse the authorities of something they are not involved in, as in the situation with strawberries under the fence. This is the harsh truth of life.

Yury Nikalayeu, Salidarnasts