Belarus President slams labor productivity in construction industry

MINSK, 29 November (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made several critical remarks about the pace and the labor productivity in the civil engineering industry of Belarus at the government session held on 29 November to discuss the development of home constriction in Minsk, BelTA has learned.

“I am totally displeased with the pace of home construction and the overall construction in our country. But we will get back to it. I am sorry that we may lose a lot of executives and construction workers in the process,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The President said that he had received reports that the number of construction workers had decreased by roughly 8% in comparison with the best times. Among other things the fact is used to explain delayed construction deadlines. “The labor productivity in the Belarusian civil engineering industry is 3-5 times as low as that in Europe. It means that we employ a superfluous amount of workforce for the construction projects we intend to accomplish. Therefore, it is necessary to take a look at how we build, at the way things are organized, and at salaries,” remarked the head of state. “My observations indicate that if a private company builds something, people work day and night because their labor is properly organized and decent salaries are paid. There are no unnecessary people there and no sloppy workmanship”.