Plumbers, mechanics and even teachers clean off snow in streets

Janitors earn less than Br 1,5 million and work 7 hours a day outside. Euroradio inspected the process of snow cleaning in Minsk and found ... a snow storage facility!

"It keeps on snowing, we need to get extra payments, while no one pays us any of the kind. We work 7 hours a day outside, trying to clean off all the snow, and then it snows again and the boss says "Why haven't you done anything?" - complain the janitors of the municipal housing committee office No. 4.

They add that they don't earn that much - about 1,5 million Belarusian roubles. They do not receive any extra payments for the snow, although they are forced to work outside in frost for 7 hours.

The municipal housing committee offices mobilized plumbers, mechanics, masters in order to clean off the snow, but there are still not enough people.

"At present moment, I lack precisely half of the personnel - there should be 11 people and there are only 6. Someone failed to appear at work, someone got drunk. Mechanics come to help. Masters also helped to clean off the snow on Saturday", – says the master of the municipal housing committee office No. 65.

Employees of the city road maintenance services work 11 hours a day to clean off the snow. However, they have been promised to get paid for extra hours, unlike the janitors from the municipal housing committee offices.

"We work overtime, sometimes 11 hours a day. They should pay for this, however, we haven't seen our payrolls yet. I don't know how much they are going to pay. I don't think it will be a great sum", - says a worker of the city road maintenance services' office, located near "Dynama" stadium.

About 800 technical units clean the snow off the roads every day, assures maintenance engineer of "Gorremavtodor" Anatol Zhamojdzik.

Anatol Zhamojdzik: "When there is much snow there might be even more, up to 850 technical units. 200 of them are dump trucks for taking the snow away. 25-30 cubic meters of snow was taken away for the last three days, not counting the yards".

About 6 thousand people sweep the snow in the yards of Minsk, as they say in the "Minsk municipal housing committee". They don't have enough janitors, so teachers and military men come and help them.

"In Pershamayski, Moscow and Kastrychnitski districts we get help from the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, military men, employees of the Ministry of Education. They will be involved into this work in all the other districts, too", - explains an employee of the "Minsk municipal housing committee".

The snow which was cleaned off the streets of Minsk is transported to 14 points. One of them is located in Panamarenki Street.

A dump truck with snow arrives here every five minutes. The snow here makes mountains higher than a man, and a small Amkodor levels it out.

In Mikalaj Ladutska's opinion, it is not enough to involve only the communal services into cleaning off the snow. The Minskers should take brooms themselves, too.

"The population's place and role in the snow-cleaning should be defined", - BELTA quotes the Minsk Mayor's words. Mikalaj Ladutska added that if organizations failed to clean the snow in their territories, they might get fined.

Photo: bymedia.net