Who is to blame
17 January 2011 16:54 [765 (NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" - Arseny Solovey) The leadership of Nizhny Novgorod has decided to remove two district heads of the city from their duties, - Oleg Kondrashov (video, GTRK "Kremlin")]
The leadership of Nizhny Novgorod has decided to remove two district heads of the city from their duties. This was announced by the head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod Oleg Kondrashov on January 17 during a meeting with the Governor) of Nizhny Novgorod Region Valery Shantsev, according to the press service of the governor and government of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
The head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod, Oleg Kondrashov, reported to the governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Valery Shantsev, on the fight against the aftermath of the snowfall.
The report noted that Valery Shantsev and Oleg Kondrashov also discussed the execution of last year's budget and the city's financial outlook for 2011, as well as the holding of holiday events. The key topic of the meeting was the fight against the aftermath of the abnormal snowfall.
As Oleg Kondrashov reported to the governor, Nizhny Novgorod had received a record amount of precipitation since the end of December. "The city has already received four months' worth of precipitation. The situation can be called a natural disaster. Under these conditions, the utility and road services faced an emergency situation and were switched to an intensified work regime. A state of emergency was declared in individual districts. To date, the Nizhny Novgorod administration has managed to achieve significant results – during the winter holidays alone, more than 240 thousand cubic meters of snow were removed from the city, 6,777 tons of sand-salt mixture and six tons of liquid reagent were used. However, the effect of this work is diminishing due to the ongoing snowfalls," noted the head of the regional capital's administration.
For his part, Valery Shantsev acknowledged that the Nizhny Novgorod administration had done significant work clearing the city, but assessed the snow removal and clearance in Nizhny Novgorod as "insufficient." "It is unacceptable that for three weeks now, both pedestrians and drivers have been suffering every day. Many people are forced to get to work and back home knee-deep in snow, losing hours in traffic jams. Many courtyards resemble stalactite caves. It is obvious that certain utility and road services have let down both the residents and the city administration. The strictest measures must be taken against such organizations. For example, if a contractor thinks it acceptable to work carelessly, then there is no place for them in Nizhny Novgorod, and the materials should be forwarded to the prosecutor's office," the governor emphasized.
Oleg Kondrashov also reported to the governor on the operational measures taken against the contracting organizations. "Those contractors who lack equipment and personnel have already been instructed to acquire additional snow removal equipment. As for contractors who have behaved inadequately and refuse to intensify their work, their municipal contracts will be terminated. We have already sent 136 appeals to the prosecutor's office," stated the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration.
Valery Shantsev also noted that the "post-mortem review" should concern not only the work of contractors, but also that of certain officials. "If residents of the Sovetsky district listen almost enviously to the residents of Avtozavodsky, who experience far fewer problems with snow, then much of the blame lies with the district authorities – they too must be held accountable," the governor stated. Responding to this remark by Valery Shantsev, the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration noted that a decision had already been made to remove two district heads of the city from their duties, as well as one contracting organization.
According to the head of the region, in addition to resolving the operational issues of clearing the city, the city administration must eliminate a number of systemic problems in its organization revealed by this winter – namely, a shortage of equipment and personnel, and poor coordination between the utility and road services and the traffic police (GIBDD), the technical inspectorate (ATI), and the housing inspectorate. Oleg Kondrashov acknowledged the relevance of these problems and reported that a standing interdepartmental headquarters for combating the snowfall had already been established to improve coordination among all services. "As for the shortage of equipment, I thank the government of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast for providing 150 additional vehicles," noted the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration.
Summing up the meeting, Valery Shantsev emphasized that the government of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was ready to continue supporting Nizhny Novgorod, but that the local authorities must significantly step up their work. "I understand that nature has its own laws. But you and I have one law – the comfort of Nizhny Novgorod residents. As governor and fellow party member, I instruct you to resolve the matter of acquiring additional equipment, ensure round-the-clock operation of the utility and road services and their supervisors in the city and district administrations, conduct an analysis of the situation, and punish those responsible. You must normalize the situation in Nizhny Novgorod within a week," the governor instructed.
The head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Oleg Kondrashov, promised that all of the governor's instructions would be carried out.
Earlier, the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Oleg Kondrashov, reported that during the snowfall, road clearing in the Sovetsky and Nizhegorodsky districts had been carried out unsatisfactorily.
Recall that the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Oleg Kondrashov, instructed the legal department to prepare case materials for referral to the prosecutor's office over the fact that ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" (Engineering Center - NN) sent snow removal equipment to Moscow. The corresponding instruction was given by the head of the administration on January 17 during an operational meeting.
According to him, the information that ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" had sent part of its snow removal equipment from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow was confirmed. "For this reason, snow was not cleared in the Nizhegorodsky and Sovetsky districts during the period of heavy snowfalls. The legal department needs to prepare case materials on this matter and forward them to the prosecutor's office," he said.
The head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration also noted that, since ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" was not coping with the clearance of the two districts' territory, it was necessary to find an organization to carry out snow removal in the Sovetsky and Nizhegorodsky districts.
Earlier, the head of the Nizhny Novgorod administration, Oleg Kondrashov, demanded that the management of ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" be held administratively liable for inaction during the snowfalls.
Acting head of the Sovetsky district administration Mikhail Igumnov reported that only outsourced equipment had been deployed to fight the snowfall. The organization responsible for the condition of the district's roads – ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" – failed to fulfill its assigned tasks, since it did not send out a single piece of special equipment.
Due to persistent complaints about the work of this organization, Oleg Kondrashov ordered an internal investigation and instructed that the management of ZAO "Inzhenerny Tsentr - NN" be held administratively liable.