Members of the NGO “Kyivites, Unite!” and representatives of district pressure groups of the capital’s residents held a protest against the construction of buildings in the historical districts of Kyiv on March 15 near the Kyiv City Hall. A symbolic “wall of lies” was unveiled during the protest. It is a sheet with a list of iconic sites that are under threat of having houses built on them. These include, in particular, the Malyshko Park, Zhukiv Island, Peizazhna Alley, Yunist Park, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Public Garden, Start Stadium, Honchara and Hoholivska Streets. The protesters have identified a total of 40 sites at risk of being built over.
According to the organizers, this “wall” is a warning to the council members: any political grouping that is unwilling to solve Kyivites’ problems will get zero votes in the upcoming municipal elections to be held in July 2012. “No help, no votes,” the activists insist. The district residents complain that public gardens and historic buildings are being razed to provide space for high-rise commercial buildings instead of the promised playgrounds and sports complexes. The pressure groups oppose illegal housing construction in the city and call for the preservation of its historical districts.
According to the chairperson of the NGO “Kyivites, Unite!” Maksym Mankovsky, they will detail on the “wall of lies” all political groupings’ progress in addressing the capital’s residents’ concerns after every meeting of the Kyiv City Council.
“They are transferring buildings on Shevchenka Boulevard, Malyshka and Maiakovskoho Streets to private ownership on almost daily basis. Of course, this process cannot be stopped by acts of the City Council, still less by decisions of the Kyiv City State Administration. It can only be stopped by mass street actions of the residents, and the fact that people are these days especially unwilling to take part in these actions, gives the authorities carte blanche to destroy Kyiv. We must strive for concerted action, as it is our only chance to get the thing done,” the protest initiators explain.
