August 8, Lepel /Own. inf./ During a regular creative business trip to Kamen, a group of local women approached the correspondent. The interlocutors spoke about their pressing concerns. They live in an agro-town on Mira Street. The street is not central, it leads further to the villages of Parechcha and Aulasava, therefore, they say, there is no pavement there. The street itself is narrow, barely allowing two cars to pass each other, and it is winding, which does not stop those who like to drive fast. Meanwhile, there are several new houses on the street where young families with children live, who risk being hit by cars every day. The residents asked to intercede so that pavements would be built on the street.
August 8, Lepel /Own. inf./ During a regular creative business trip to Kamen, a group of local women approached the correspondent. The interlocutors spoke about their pressing concerns. They live in an agro-town on Mira Street. The street is not central, it leads further to the villages of Parechcha and Aulasava, therefore, they say, there is no pavement there. The street itself is narrow, barely allowing two cars to pass each other, and it is winding, which does not stop those who like to drive fast. Meanwhile, there are several new houses on the street where young families with children live, who risk being hit by cars every day. The residents asked to intercede so that pavements would be built on the street.
As noted by the chairman of the rural executive committee, M.M. Sinitsyn, by mid-summer, enterprises and organizations of the district owed over one hundred million rubles for various services. Primarily, these are road and landscaping works: pothole repair of asphalt, installation of fences, tidying up the cemetery, cutting down old and hazardous trees, and more, too numerous to list.
Sources include the sale of land plots through auctions; sometimes the price of one reaches 30 million rubles. We are preparing documentation for six. Plus, receipts from land and property tax payments. The latest achievements of Kamen are the registration of its coat of arms and flag. The settlement has an ancient, rich history, which, unfortunately, is still little studied.
The chairman considers the construction of an agro-town in Chareyshchyna to be the most significant result of the past four years of work. First and foremost, this represents a change in the way of life. It includes new working conditions on farms and in mechanical workshops, as well as new residential houses for villagers. Essential improvements include updated asphalt surfacing on streets and the modernisation of social infrastructure facilities, including FAPs (Feldsher-Accoucheur Points).
Telecommunication services provide high-speed access to the global Internet network. In short, the term "agro-town" encompasses a vast amount of work carried out by thousands of people.
We have managed to preserve the positive aspects that have existed in Belarusian villages since Soviet times. For example, the savings bank of OJSC "Belarusbank". Previously, similar institutions were present in almost every collective farm's central estate, and villagers did not have to travel to the district centre to deposit money into a savings book or withdraw interest. While many village branches have closed, the branch in Kamien has not only survived but also fully provides the entire range of banking services for the population: opening deposits, settling loan payments, making utility payments, conducting operations with plastic cards, and even topping up mobile phone accounts – these and other services are available to villagers.
The healthcare system in the rural council has made significant progress in recent years. In addition to the FAPs in Hubin, Chareyshchyna, and Zabaroŭje, a general practitioner's outpatient clinic has been established in Kamien. Patients are seen by doctor Larysa Kanstantsinaŭna Hierasimionak and dentist Sof'ja Ivanoŭna Vinačurova.
Medical professionals provide consultations at the facility and make house calls to residents. The latter social service is in high demand, as many elderly people reside in the villages.
"Rural registration, urban living conditions" – this slogan was proclaimed for a reason. Rural workers have the right to live and work in decent conditions, and these conditions are gradually and systematically becoming a daily reality. As far back as 2005, during the creation of the agro-town in Kamien, a main gas pipeline was laid to the village, and the mass gasification of the private sector began. This process continues today, with new cooperatives being established for gasification each year. This process is not limited to the central estate of the rural council; last year, residents of the village of Bor were connected to the gas supply.
Agroecotourism holds a special place among the prospects of rural development. Three agro-estates have already opened in the villages of Kamensky Village Council, and others are actively under construction. The main difficulty lies in the fact that this is a new endeavor, still unfamiliar and unstudied by our people. Many approach it with caution, unaware that they possess almost everything needed for success in the tourism sector.
Authorities and public activists are coming to the rescue. For instance, a meeting was recently held at the village executive committee, initiated to develop the potential of agroecotourism. Co-chaired by Nikolai Sinitsyn and Olga Makhanenko, the coordinator of a European project, it involved an exchange of experiences and an engaging discussion. The most significant outcome is that the initiative-takers were once again convinced that the Lepel region is a unique tourist mecca. However, it is also important for the people of Lepel, and particularly those in Kamenka, not to sit idly by but to work...
Vasily MATYRKA
