Lukashenko praises progress in restoration of Chernobyl-hit regions

The state will be doing everything necessary for the Belarusian lands suffered from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he spoke with the residents of Chechersk District on 29 April, BelTA has learned.

The head of state said that the affected areas were recovering well, while the morbidity rate of residents of these areas was even lower than in other regions. The birth rate in these areas is also good.

“It would be great if we had a similar situation in all the regions of our country. I was pleasantly surprised by the minister's report (we now have a lot to compare as 36 years have passed since the tragedy): we are making a good progress in reducing overall morbidity. Most importantly, here people are healthier than in other districts. That is why I say: it would be great if we had a similar situation in other regions as well,” the president said.

“I am very grateful that back then you listened to me when I said that we would not give these lands away. We will live here. We will do everything so that our people could live and work here. The most important conclusion is that you should never give up, you have to fight to the last, and then the victory will be yours. This is the main conclusion I draw from the experience I got here,” stressed Aleksandr Lukashenko.

In Chechersk Aleksandr Lukashenko laid flowers at the memorial In Memory of the Resettled Villages. The monument was designed by students of the Belarusian State University of Transport and installed in the town in 2003.

The wooden structure is 8 meters high and is in the form of a town hall on a concrete pedestal. The concrete symbolizes the abandoned, dead villages, the wood symbolizes the life and development of the remaining settlements. The monument bears a plaque with an inscription of the names of 43 resettled villages of Chechersk District.