Events

Lukashenko urges against overpopulating Minsk, stresses rural preservation

MINSK, 3 April (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about demographic processes at the opening of a new clinic in the Belarusian capital, urging that Minsk not be overpopulated and that the village be preserved, BelTA has learned.

“Yes, we will build a bit more housing here and there. But don’t think we will go all out on housing like we used to in Minsk. This is first and foremost in your own interests. If we overpopulate Minsk, we will, first of all, drain all the labor force [to the capital], which must not be allowed under any circumstances. You can see that we already have a labor shortage in the regions, especially in agriculture. And yet we all want to eat. And we want quality food,” the head of state said. “You know how much attention I pay to agriculture. And not even to agriculture, but to saving the village. We must preserve the village. Without it, we are nothing. We’ll soon be taking buses to the countryside to milk cows if we continue with such a policy. So we need to build housing there as well. And, secondly, we need to keep Minsk from overpopulating. You can see that during rush hour it’s already impossible to get through.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that today practically every family has one or even two cars, and all these vehicles need parking spaces. “During construction, and I oversee construction projects in Minsk, the mayor reports to me and already writes at the end: ‘If there is no parking area, then housing cannot be built’. Only by a presidential decision can we make some concessions here and there,” the president said.

He called the scene near residential buildings, where everything is literally jam-packed with cars, terrible. “There’s nothing good about it. But that’s life. We can’t change it anymore. It’s the same everywhere, all over the world. People are becoming wealthier. They buy cars. Not to have a luxury item. But to get around,” the Belarusian leader said.

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