Lukashenko: Chernobyl united people in their desire to save affected regions

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko continues his tour around the Belarusian regions affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the 35^th anniversary of the accident the Belarusian leader paid a visit to Bragin, Gomel region. The head of state was be briefed on the progress made to landscape the public garden in Bragin. Aleksandr Lukashenko also took part in the ceremony to lay the Alley of Memory to install a memorial sign in memory of the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

The Chernobyl tragedy united Belarusians in their desire to save affected regions, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the requiem meeting. In his words, more than a third of radioactive fallout fell on almost a quarter of Belarus’ territory. The overall damage made up almost 33 budgets of the republic of the year 1985. As scientists say, we still have to determine the impact of the tragedy on people’s health, the head of state added:

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     Though the time was peaceful, we had to experience the pain from the loss of our native land. Life stopped in almost 500 populated areas, more than 300,000 people lost their homes. There was advice coming from abroad to close the Chernobyl-affected part of the country. But the Chernobyl tragedy, on the contrary, united Belarusians in their desire to preserve this land, to make us stronger. We recalled a lesson of our fathers and grandfathers: you should never give up, you should never stand on your knees. Therefore, I visit these territories every spring on these memorable days. The Chernobyl catastrophe had a strong impact on my fate and on the fates of people who have gathered together for this requiem meeting. Back then you were thinking about your lives, your future; and I had to think about you, about the country, about the huge territory. The most difficult thing for me was to make a decision that we will not abandon these territories. As a person and as president I was doing my best to convince you that we cannot give up on these beautiful lands. The time proved that we made the right decision not to give up on these lands.

The president recalled that five national programs to restore Chernobyl-affected territories were implemented in Belarus. He praised the efforts to restore the Belarusian Polesye. At the same time, the head of state remarked that a lot of work is still ahead. In particular, it is essential to prepare a new program with a focus on opening enterprises and creating new jobs in affected regions.