Biaroza Activist Drew People Together In Fight Against Corruption In Housing And Utilities Sector

The story how Aliaksandr Kabanau became a people's leader not only in his region.

The association of the owners of the house 17B on Tyshkevich Street in Biaroza decided to build a basement at the beginning of the year. But under one condition: do not involve the housing and utilities sector. The work provided by the housing and utilities sector is three times more expensive than the work provided by private services. According to Belsat, the battle for the house began after the activist Aliaksandr Kabanau was elected the chairman of the homeowners association.

"The homeowners association has elected me the chairman by a majority vote and I was busy with the documentation for some time. However, when the chairman of the district executive committee leant about my appointment, he was surprised and in 2 weeks I received a letter notifying that the district executive committee did not approve my candidacy," – Aliaksandr said.

The Executive Committee lobbies the interests of the housing and utilities sector.

After the citizens had a meeting with the local authorities, they made a compromise decision: the executive committee will grant permission to the housing and utilities agency to design and construct the basement, and the residents themselves will choose a contractor organization to fulfill the works.

The homeowners association will register the house and the plot of the land as its property. According to Aliaksandr Kabanau this is necessary not only because of the basement.

"The hottest issue today - put the surveillance cameras. But to do so we, again, need to address the housing and utilities agency, the district executive committee, etc. We want to be the owners. We may want to plant a garden here, after all," –the chairman of the homeowners association says.

Aliaksandr Kabanau is known far beyond Biaroza.

In the spring, he was one of the first to collect signatures against Decree No. 3 on the so-called social parasitism. Later, he was one of the organizers of rallies of non-parasites, both in Biaroza and in Brest.

Despite the unanimous support of local residents, the appointment of Kabanau for the position of the chairman of the homeowners association caused a nervous reaction in the executive committee. After the meeting, Aliaksandr Kabanau will re-submit the documents to the regional executive committee in order to get approval as the chairman of the homeowners association. Although the residents have long voted for him.