Lukashenko: Gomel Oblast should be put to rights
2 August 2024
MOZYR DISTRICT, 2 August (BelTA) – During a meeting with residents of the Prudok agro-town, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave an instruction to put Gomel Oblast to rights, BelTA has learned.
“We need to put Gomel Oblast to rights. We sent to you someone as big as a minister [Gomel Oblast Governor Ivan Krupko previously headed the Agriculture and Food Ministry]. It will be a shame if you fail to sort things out in Gomel Oblast. But he always has problems: in previous years he kept complaining to me that everything had dried up, this year, he complains of floods. You know, we live in such an area where droughts and floods are quite common,” the president remarked.
The head of state recalled that in the spring many believed that the weather would be dry in the summer and the harvest could perish. However, the opposite happened.
“I warned you that there would be both rainy and dry periods. This is good, especially for Gomel Oblast. You are not Grodno Oblast or Ukraine that has black soil: much of our soil is sandy. Yet, frankly speaking, local residents were not ready for this situation, so draw your own conclusions. Think about what we will cultivate. Anyway, Gomel Oblast needs to be put in order. Our agricultural workers are doing a very poor job plowing the fields: half of them were plowed, half were neglected. Therefore, Ivan Ivanovich and I will think what to do about it over the winter. But people also need to improve their discipline. You should not wait for someone to come here and do your job instead of you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.
“You have come on a good day: today is Ilya's Day,” the residents of the agro-town noted.
The head of state asked them what remains to be done after the July storm, whether local authorities helped repair houses and other buildings.
“They have done everything!” the local residents responded.
“I want to make sure that officials will do everything that was agreed upon in time,” the president explained.
“They will!” the local residents said.
“Have you got your roofs fixed? I mean the roofs of your houses. Everything needs to be brought back to the way it was. The rafter system, the sheathing, the slate - you had this done, right? Good. Has electricity supply been reinstalled, connected it to each house? That's also good. In other words, life goes on as usual,” noted Aleksandr Lukashenko.
As the head of state was told, the bad weather damaged many facilities, administrative buildings and residential houses. “But everything was restored in the first days,” the residents said.
The 14 July thunderstorm left hundreds of communities across the country without electricity and water. Gomel Oblast was hit the hardest.
A total of 46 high-voltage lines in the region were damaged, 5,813 transformer substations and 52 boiler houses were disconnected. As a result, 1,175 villages were cut off, and five districts were left without electrical power. The storm also damaged more than 30,000 hectares of forests, which is more than 3.8 million cubic meters of timber.
An emergency situation was declared in Gomel Oblast the same evening and an operational headquarters was set up to eliminate the consequences of the bad weather.
Mozyr District suffered the most from the disaster, and emergency teams from neighboring, less affected districts were sent there to help.
The head of state took personal control over the progress of restoration works in the country. Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Sivak, the governors of Mogilev Oblast, Minsk Oblast and Gomel Oblast reported to the president on a daily basis. Special attention was paid to Gomel Oblast, which suffered the most from the disaster.
Power engineers, forestry and other specialists were fully engaged in the works. The critical emergency works were completed within 24 hours. However, the elimination of the consequences of the storm will continue for many more months.
“We need to put Gomel Oblast to rights. We sent to you someone as big as a minister [Gomel Oblast Governor Ivan Krupko previously headed the Agriculture and Food Ministry]. It will be a shame if you fail to sort things out in Gomel Oblast. But he always has problems: in previous years he kept complaining to me that everything had dried up, this year, he complains of floods. You know, we live in such an area where droughts and floods are quite common,” the president remarked.
The head of state recalled that in the spring many believed that the weather would be dry in the summer and the harvest could perish. However, the opposite happened.
“I warned you that there would be both rainy and dry periods. This is good, especially for Gomel Oblast. You are not Grodno Oblast or Ukraine that has black soil: much of our soil is sandy. Yet, frankly speaking, local residents were not ready for this situation, so draw your own conclusions. Think about what we will cultivate. Anyway, Gomel Oblast needs to be put in order. Our agricultural workers are doing a very poor job plowing the fields: half of them were plowed, half were neglected. Therefore, Ivan Ivanovich and I will think what to do about it over the winter. But people also need to improve their discipline. You should not wait for someone to come here and do your job instead of you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.
“You have come on a good day: today is Ilya's Day,” the residents of the agro-town noted.
The head of state asked them what remains to be done after the July storm, whether local authorities helped repair houses and other buildings.
“They have done everything!” the local residents responded.
“I want to make sure that officials will do everything that was agreed upon in time,” the president explained.
“They will!” the local residents said.
“Have you got your roofs fixed? I mean the roofs of your houses. Everything needs to be brought back to the way it was. The rafter system, the sheathing, the slate - you had this done, right? Good. Has electricity supply been reinstalled, connected it to each house? That's also good. In other words, life goes on as usual,” noted Aleksandr Lukashenko.
As the head of state was told, the bad weather damaged many facilities, administrative buildings and residential houses. “But everything was restored in the first days,” the residents said.
The 14 July thunderstorm left hundreds of communities across the country without electricity and water. Gomel Oblast was hit the hardest.
A total of 46 high-voltage lines in the region were damaged, 5,813 transformer substations and 52 boiler houses were disconnected. As a result, 1,175 villages were cut off, and five districts were left without electrical power. The storm also damaged more than 30,000 hectares of forests, which is more than 3.8 million cubic meters of timber.
An emergency situation was declared in Gomel Oblast the same evening and an operational headquarters was set up to eliminate the consequences of the bad weather.
Mozyr District suffered the most from the disaster, and emergency teams from neighboring, less affected districts were sent there to help.
The head of state took personal control over the progress of restoration works in the country. Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Sivak, the governors of Mogilev Oblast, Minsk Oblast and Gomel Oblast reported to the president on a daily basis. Special attention was paid to Gomel Oblast, which suffered the most from the disaster.
Power engineers, forestry and other specialists were fully engaged in the works. The critical emergency works were completed within 24 hours. However, the elimination of the consequences of the storm will continue for many more months.