The quality of housing and communal services in Chernihiv: service of the lifting economy
On November 27, 2012 at 2:00 pm in the premises of a small hall of meetings of Chernihiv City Council, at Chernihiv, str. Magistratskaya, 7, a round table on the topic “Quality of housing and communal services in Chernihiv: service of elevator economy” was held.
The event was held within the framework of the project “Collaboration of parties and public organizations in favor of the community: improving the quality of utilities in Chernihiv”, which is implementedUnited States Agency for International Development(USAID).
Representatives of the Executive Committee of Chernihiv City Council, deputies of the Chernihiv city council, representatives of local public organizations and political parties, public activists and journalists took part in the roundtable.
The event became a logical continuation of the first round table “Quality of Housing and Communal Services in Chernihiv: the results of the analysis and recommendations of experts” and was devoted to the presentation of the results of new studies of the Polissya Fund within the framework of the project, which is implemented (in particular, for the elevator economy of Chernihiv).
The Polissya Fund Manager Olga Rizenko presented the results of a sociological survey “Quality of Housing and Communal Services in Chernihiv”. This study was conducted within the framework of another project of the Polissya Foundation for Public Opinion on the Provision of Utilities in Chernihiv, which was implemented at the expense of the regional budget within the framework of the Program of Promotion of the Development of Civil Society Institutions for 2012 – 2015 “Chernihiv Community”.
During November 2012, 400 Chernihiv was interviewed on their assessment of the quality of work of the housing and communal sphere of the city and individual housing and communal services.
38.7% of those surveyed evaluated the quality of work of the housing and communal sphere of Chernihiv as a whole, in turn, 27.1% of respondents rated it poorly, and 8.4% – extremely negative. Instead, 22.6% rated the work of Chernihiv Housing and only 0.7% for “excellent”.
The quality of services such as overhaul of buildings and structures, overhaul of roofs of buildings and structures, ongoing repair of buildings and structures, control of the number of stray animals was most negative.The most positive estimates were the following types of utility companies: gas supply, power supply, water supply and sewerage, heat supply.
A separate block of the survey concerned the work of the elevator economy of the city of Chernihiv. The decisive is that 57.0% of respondents were well appreciated by the quality of elevators in their entrances, and 26.0% – mediocre. At the same time, 65% of those polled noted that malfunctions in the work of the elevator in their entrances occurred more often than once a year.
You can find out more about the survey results from the presentation by following the link: The results of sociological research
The Polissya Fund Project Manager of International and Regional Studies Maxim Koryavets presented the results of an analysis of the quality of service for service lifting services in Chernihiv. He noted that in the last one and a half years, the main providers of housing and communal services and structural units of local authorities, which control the quality of the provision of housing and utilityic companies, received 20 complaints about the quality of services for the service of the elevator. But at the same time, the dispatching services served by city elevators daily receives an average of 25-30 emergency calls.
Analysis of the results of expert survey “Quality of Housing and Communal Services in Chernihiv” in the part of the service of the lift economy of the city of Chernihiv showed that the share of positive assessments on the functioning of the lifting economy of the city of Chernihiv was 35.3% (33.3% of experts.37.3% of experts evaluated the quality of lift services in Chernihiv as mediocre. The proportion of negative estimates was 27.4% (23.5% of experts did not appreciate the quality of lifting services; 3.9% – they evaluated it extremely negative).
You can find out more about the results of the analysis from the report by following the link: Analysis Report
According to the head of the specialized elevator management № 5 of the private joint -stock company “OTIS” Alexander Lapkis, the lift park of the city is in a crisis state, the main reason for which is the technical wear of the elevators and insufficient funding.There are more than 1,200 elevators in the city’s housing stock, 472 elevators require expert research, as they have worked out – 25 years. However, the modernization of one elevator will cost about 200 thousand UAH, and replacement – 400 thousand UAH. for one elevator.
“The tariffs for the service of elevators were last reviewed in the regional center in 2008 and today do not cover the costs of the enterprise even for service,” said Mr. Lapkis.
According to him, the branch of service of the elevator economy under such conditions in Chernihiv should be subsidized, with the monthly amount of the subsidy should be at least 110 thousand UAH.
In addition, O. Lapkis believes that at the state level it is necessary to change the requirements for servicing elevators, to study the experience of other countries of the world.In particular, instead of limiting the lifes life for 25 years, maintain regular maintenance and check the safety of the elevators (with the replacement of worn parts, if necessary). The cost of it should lie on the consumer. According to him, some elevators with a 25-year service life are in better condition than elevators with a 5-year term.
The deputy mayor Mykola Senkovich noted that at present the costs of Chernihiv high -rise buildings are currently paid to the tariff, and the costs of current elevators are included only, and therefore the accumulation of funds for major repairs or the replacement of elevators is not actually happening.
The deputy of the Chernihiv City Council Alexander Melnyk noted that the main document, which should regulate the process of improving the situation in the field of elevator economy, is the program of modernization and replacement of elevators in the housing stock of Chernihiv for 2008-2015, but it is financed inadvertently (in the last three years.
In addition, the event was discussed during the event, expert recommendations for improving the quality of housing and communal services in Chernihiv were discussed, of which:
1) create a public body for: quality control of housing and communal services and relevant informing of residents of the city; promoting the protection of legal rights and interests of consumers of housing and communal services; promoting the development of civil society through the creation of associations of co -owners of apartment buildings and self -organization bodies;
2) to improve the existing regulatory framework of the city’s housing and communal services: instead of the existing program of reforming and development of housing and communal services of Chernihiv, to develop, to conduct a wide discussion and to accept a document that will become a real basis for the sustainable development of the most important sphere of the city; to bring other programs, decisions of the city council and its executive bodies, which normalize the issues of housing and communal services, in accordance with the main document-the program of reforming and development of housing and communal services of the city of Chernihiv; to analyze the course of implementation of existing utility programs in a timely manner, to actualize them to achieve the greatest effect;
3) the executive bodies of the city council: to take measures to attract additional funds to financing the city programs of the housing and communal services sector, first of all – from the state and regional budgets, as well as at the expense of preferential credit resources.
These recommendations, together with the recommendations for improving the quality of services for service of the elevator economy, will be referred to the relevant structural units of local authorities.
The round table was presented to the creation of a public organization that will promote the protection of legal rights and interests of consumers of housing and communal services, as planned within the framework of the project “Collaboration of parties and public organizations in favor of the community: improving the quality of utilities in Chernihiv”. Oleksandr Melnyk, one of the initiators of the creation of such an organization, noted that on November 27 the Constituent Assembly was held. The public organization includes more than 10 people who aim to combine the efforts of the residents of Chernihiv on the way to improve the quality of work of housing and communal services of the city. The name of the new formation is the Chernihiv city public organization “Order”.
At the end of the roundtable, the analyst of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Taras Bick noted that supporting the public sector initiatives gives more positive results if it takes place at the local level rather than the national level. According to him, a roundtable was held a living confirmation of this.
The purpose of the project “Collaboration of Parties and NGOs in favor of the community: improving the quality of utilities in Chernihiv”, which is implemented with the support of the International Republican Institute and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cities in the field of utilities through joint activity.