1 March, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. More than 1.6 thousand enterprises and organisations have become patrons of rural settlements in the Vitebsk region, as reported today at a meeting of the presidium of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies by the Chairman of the Regional Council, Alexander Atyasov, informs a BELTA correspondent. Systematic and targeted work is being carried out in the region to improve rural settlements and maintain order on the land, emphasised the Chairman of the Regional Council. Patrons – enterprises and organisations of the region, which are assigned to each of the more than 6.3 thousand settlements, from remote hamlets to agro-towns – provide considerable assistance to rural residents in this matter. In 2011, with the help of patrons among others, more than 850 dilapidated derelict houses were demolished, over 5 thousand vacant land plots with a total area of 1.5 thousand hectares were put into economic circulation, 2.2 thousand km of driveways and rural streets, over 2.7 thousand shaft wells were equipped, and 136 km of fences were installed. The practice of enterprises providing assistance in improving villages will be continued in the region this year. District Councils of Deputies, together with their patrons, have already prepared a list of priority measures. These include putting land plots into agricultural circulation, demolishing dilapidated vacant houses, cleaning melioration canals, tidying up forests adjacent to rural settlements, repairing streets, equipping public transport stops and recreation areas, restoring water supply networks and wells, and tidying up cemeteries. As Alexander Atyasov noted, no village, regardless of the number of people living there, will be left without the attention of rural executive committees and patrons. This year, the budget provides for the allocation of Br1.2 billion for the demolition of derelict derelict houses, and another Br9 billion will be directed towards the repair of rural streets and access roads to villages and rural cemeteries. -0-

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