A few days ago, a contract was signed for the demolition of the environmentally degrading building at Stacijas Street 95. It is the first precedent of its kind when, taking care of the cleanliness of the urban environment and the safety of the citizens, a decision is made to forcibly demolish a building belonging to a private person.
Andrejs Elksniņš, chairman of the municipal council of Daugavpils state city states: “For several years, the municipality has been trying to contact the owner so that he would fix the mentioned property. But, unfortunately, this has not happened. Therefore, the city council, using its exclusive functions, has decided to forcefully demolish this object at the expense of the municipality, and then recover the mentioned funds from specific building and land owners. It is important for us to take care of the urban environment, so that buildings that are in a bad state are put in order.”
This facility, a former sewing factory, is a private property that has been abandoned for more than 10 years, degrading the surrounding environment and becoming a gathering place for the homeless, where fires regularly break out. The municipality tried several times to address the owners to solve this problem, but it was not successful, so a decision was made to forcibly demolish the building. The works are expected to be carried out already this summer season.
In total, there are currently 142 slums in the records of the Department of Urban Planning and Construction of Daugavpils. Some of them have been conserved, some are being restored, administrative cases have been initiated for several of them. An increased Real Estate Tax rate is applied to buildings and territories that degrade the environment, and municipal specialists constantly monitor such objects and work with their owners to solve the problem.
The plot was prepared by the Public Relations Department of the Daugavpils State City Municipality.
Tags: contract signed forced demolition slum Stacijas Street
