Hrodna City Executive Committee has made list of more than 70 streets where they prohibit to mount satellite dishes and air conditioners. According to Belsat TV director Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, such measure may stacked against is a blow to the viewers of the first independent channel.
“The installed satellite dishes, antennas and other constructions that spoil the single system of the buildings’ architectural design are to be removed,” Henadz Talamanau, the head of Architecture and Urban Planning department, told grodnonews.by.
In accordance with the decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus as of 16 May 2013, the local authorities have the right to forbid installing antennas and other devices on facades not only when the building is on the list of Belarus’ historical and cultural heritage, but also in case of their ‘facing main streets and squares’.
Such order might have been given to target the TV channel which Belarusians watch it via satellite, Belsat TV director Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy believes.
The decision купфквы not only the ancient part of the city where the aesthetic aspect may be taken into account, but new residential areas as well, Romaszewska-Guzy stressed.
In her opinion, the mass dismantle of satellite dishes violates the rights to information and choice of media.
“It is very strange that the Belarusian authorities are taking such steps in spite of the current thaw in relations with Poland. For example, they have recently attempted to withdraw three priests from Belarus, but in vain,” Agnieszka Romaszewska Guzy recalls.
In 2008, Polish channels TVP 1 and Polsat disappeared from Hrodna cable networks’ offer. A Belarusian-Ukrainian channel which president Lukashenka talked much about, has never been established. At the same time, a lot of Russian channels are freely available in Belarus.
belsat.eu; phot. grodnonews.by
