Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 30 March (BelTA) – Public safety in crowded places will remain closely watched, BelTA learned from Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov on 30 March.

Andrei Kobyakov said: “As far as crowded places are concerned, we need constant effort. It is primarily up to executives, managers, organizers of public events to take care of these matters. Certainly, basic safety, fire escapes, fire-extinguishing systems should work like clockwork and should be ready for use at any second if necessary. Such inspections will be arranged regularly and unexpectedly.”

The head of state has signed legislation to greatly simplify business operation terms. Inspections of private companies have been optimized. “Certainly, we will be mindful of these things. But let me emphasize that simpler business operation terms should not result in more hazards for people in places where an emergency is possible at all,” he said.

According to the Belarusian head of government, in order to achieve public safety, three components are needed — oversight on the part of the state, responsibility on the part of organizers of public events, and the knowledge of safety rules on the part of people themselves.

“Certainly, public safety cannot be secured through one-time actions. This kind of work must be done all the time,” he concluded.

During his working trip to Grodno Oblast on 30 March Andrei Kobyakov visited the Emergencies Ministry’s safety education center in Lida. There are three such centers in Belarus. The two other ones are located in Gomel Oblast and Vitebsk. Some 62,000 kids and adults have been educated at these centers. Their primary purpose is to teach citizens what to do in an emergency. Such centers offer conditions to practice saving people, evacuation from a smoke-filled room, and so on.

The construction of regional safety education centers in Mogilev Oblast, Brest Oblast, and Minsk Oblast is supposed to be finished in 2018. The construction of another center in Minsk may be finished in 2019, added Andrei Kobyakov.