| The mayor of Moscow began preparing his subordinates for the next winter At yesterday's meeting of the capital's government, Yuri Luzhkov once again proved that he knows how to set mobilizing tasks for his subordinates. Having promised workers of the DEZ next year criminal liability for every icicle that falls from the roof, the mayor forbade them from going onto the roofs of houses with shovels and crowbars in order to avoid damage to the roof and the appearance of leaks. Puzzled utility workers decided to use the summer months to invent “contactless” ways to combat icicles on the roofs of Moscow houses.
Yesterday's meeting of the city government was dedicated to the results of the work of Moscow's energy and utilities sector last winter. The mayor once again noted the “illiteracy” of road workers when using new de-icing agents, and also made a number of traditional criticisms of Mosenergo OJSC, which still lags far behind in the development of energy networks and generating capacities from the needs of the city.
However, the mayor most criticized the work of city services in cleaning courtyards and combating icicles. “It’s just some kind of curse hanging over the city - every year we lose people from falling icicles!” - thundered the mayor. The head of the Moscow Department of Housing and Communal Services, Nikolai Pavlov, tried to timidly object that, according to statistics, Muscovites suffered fewer injuries last winter from falling on the sidewalks than in previous years. The mayor interrupted him as sharply as possible: “That means your statistics are unreliable! Take advantage of health department statistics! The number of injuries in the city has increased!” Without allowing his subordinates to justify themselves, the mayor said that he had found a way to force utility workers to work conscientiously. “As long as there is no personal liability, including criminal liability, at the house management, at the DEZ, at the REU, no technology will help us,” said Mr. Luzhkov and immediately expressed gratitude to the Moscow prosecutor’s office for “taking up this is the most pressing problem of the city in bringing to justice the negligent leaders of the DEZ.”
However, the task assigned to his subordinates to combat ice on the sidewalks and icicles on the roofs under the threat of criminal liability did not seem difficult enough to the mayor. Suddenly, Mr. Luzhkov remembered the complaints of the head of the municipal services complex, Pyotr Aksenov, that more than ten services today have the right to go onto the roofs of houses: telephone operators, elevator operators, etc. However, they do not bear any responsibility for the integrity of the soft roof. “We use modern materials that can last for decades, but as a result we are forced to fix leaks every year,” Mr. Aksenov recalled his problems. The frowning mayor ordered to immediately and radically “resolve the issue of visiting the roofs,” because “when people go there with shovels and crowbars, all leaks and other troubles are guaranteed.” It seems that now Mr. Aksenov will have to explain to his subordinates how to deal with icicles without going onto the roof. Alexander GUDKOV |
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