"Isn't It Time For You To Leave Your Offices?"

A pointed question from a Belarusian to the authorities.

A Minsk resident /@good_leshy, who is involved in searching for those who died during World War II, pointed out a discrepancy between the requirements for owners of private plots and those for land managed by village councils.

“A question for the Belarusian local authorities,” he writes. “You’re making sure the grass on citizens’ plots doesn’t grow taller than 15 centimeters. Good job, hooray! Question: what about the lands managed by village councils, where there’s more goldenrod than a madman has paper clips? Is that a different story?

You’ll say: ‘Send us photos, and we’ll look into it.’ No, go there yourselves and see what’s going on—even in the Minsk District. I’m tired of waiting for favors here—I clean the village cemetery myself—but, dear “servants of the people,” isn’t it time for you to leave your offices and take a trip out to the fields? And while you’re at it, why not mow the grass, huh?”

Social media users supported the idea but expressed doubts that it would actually be implemented. The website Charter97.org quotes some of the comments:
— Even if the local authorities read this, they’ll pretend they didn’t.

— I used to live with my husband in Maly Trostents. It’s on the outskirts of town. No one mowed those abandoned fields. Then one day in February, we heard the sound of mowers. We looked out the window—they were mowing! So you’re a little late in appealing to people’s conscience. They’ll be here by winter.

— Recently, the phone rang, and an unpleasant voice with an equally unpleasant tone announced that I needed to clear my lot of hogweed and goldenrod, or else I’d face a fine. I went out specifically to check—maybe it had grown overnight? My lot has a lawn, and behind it is the village council’s property, where the vegetation is already running wild. We asked to use this lot for a private farm, but they didn’t allow it; it’s been unmowed for 20 years and remains that way. There’s no explanation—and no logic to it either.

— I agree 100%. “Servants of the People” should serve the people, not the other way around.

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