Minister delivers report on state of things in Belarus' housing and utilities sector

Minister of Housing and Utilities Andrei Khmel delivered a report on the state of things in Belarus' housing and utilities sector at a meeting hosted by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.

Andrei Khmel noted that the issues that concern people the most in the housing and utilities sector are costs, quality and promptness of the provision of housing and utilities services.

He recalled that local authorities in the regions were allowed to appoint providers of housing and utilities services, which, of course, had an impact on the delivery of services. “This measure was introduced by Decree No. 478 and it is highly appreciated on the ground. Today, the regions suggest extending the validity of the decree, scaling it up in the regions and expanding the scope of works and services covered by this decree,” the minister said. “There is a proposal to extend it throughout the entire country,” Andrei Khmel added.

The head of state agreed that such matters should be dealt with locally – by local authorities in settlements. “I just want one thing: no violations and no compromise to quality. We have the right to hold the offenders to account. I publicly warned you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Andrei Khmel also reported on a number of other things, including the implementation of the Comfortable Housing and Enabling Environment government program set to run in 2021-2025. Elevator equipment is being replaced in line with a schedule, excess operation is ruled out. Capital repairs, replacement of heating networks, as well as water supply and sanitation networks were also discussed. Work is underway to provide households with high-quality drinking water. “Some 95.8% of households have access to high-quality drinking water. The decisions of the head of state on the construction of water supply and sanitation networks for detached houses bore fruit. By now, 91% of households have centralized water supply systems, 78.8% have sewerage systems,” the minister informed.

The measures taken to upgrade the municipal solid waste management system made it possible to improve the collection of recyclable materials. The level of municipal solid waste utilization reached 29%.

The number of complaints about the quality of housing and utilities services has reduced. Special attention is paid to neighborhood improvement projects.