Pickets against deforestation passed off in Sochi

On March, 19, single-person pickets against occupation of the children’s centers and deforestation passed off in Sochi. The participants of the actions declare that plans of construction of multilevel parking lots are a threat to the green belt and children’s centers of the city. Officials of Mayor’s office assure that the development is going within legal boundaries.

On March, 19, Galina Leshenko, teacher of a children’s educational center in Krasnoarmeiysklaya street, held a picket during her lunch break from 13 till 14 o’clock near the building fence in Gagarin street enclosing the territory of the children’s center. A multilevel parking is under construction there for which tens rare plants: planes, cypresses, magnolia and palm trees were sawed down.

There were slogans on the picketer’s poster: “They are building a parking for 260 cars here. Object of high fire hazard. Children nearby!”.

“We and our children do not want to die in our native city because of exhaust stream from the endless traffic current which is out of place in a health resort”, Galina Leshenko said. According to her, the teachers are ready to block the highway if they are “not listened to”.

At the same time representatives of non-governmental organizations also held single-person pickets near a children’s center in Constitution street. Civil activists were standing on duty there not to let the developers saw the trees.

Ecologist Julia Naberezhnaya was holding a picket in protection of the green belt and against construction of parking lots in the children’s territories near the building of municipal Administration from 12 till 14 o’clock. Her slogan ran: “The city + parking – children = more money in the officials’ pockets”.

Deputy Ludmila Shestak stopped Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov near the entrance of Mayor’s office and asked him to “leave the children’s centers and green belt in peace until the question of legality of the construction is settled in court”. According to Shestak, the Mayor advised her to appeal to Chief architect of the city Oleg Shveiko.

Oleg Shveiko who came out of the Mayor’s office told the people that it was not the question of his competence but that of Legal Department. “Nothing depends on me. The citizens should appeal to court if they disagree with my actions”, Shveiko explained to the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.