Minister Gentvil reacted to the proposal to introduce a shelter tax: it is only for hiding for 3-4 hours

According to him, according to the new construction technical regulation, shelters are now mandatory for new structures that are five stories and higher.

“Public and administrative buildings, which are visited by about 100 people per day, also require shelters. This becomes mandatory for new buildings. For old buildings, we will not dig an apartment building underground, so to speak. The basement needs to be adjusted.

During the renovation, during the same state renovation, the residents are supported and given preferential credit for 20 years, at 3 percent, so that the residents can install such rooms, but this requires the consent of the residents, which basement room we donate, or how we adapt the garage room here,” he explained. minister

The establishment of shelters was recently criticized by President Gitanas Nausėda, saying that it is happening almost at the speed of a turtle. According to him, municipalities lack help from the Government. S. Gentvilas answers that everything is not done in just one year.

“Let’s take a look, we already have designated, publicly accessible shelters for more than a third of the Lithuanian population. For a third of the population, within two years of the war.

Now it’s about the owners of private houses deciding how they could equip their premises. I believe that many Lithuanian houses have basements, they are just not marked as shelters. A basement in a private house is practically a shelter.

In an apartment building, this is a cover, but the residents need to agree with each other, to include this issue in the community’s agenda. The initiative of the residents themselves is needed. It’s not like the government will do everything,” he said.

The minister added that, in his opinion, the president’s criticism is more of a kind of pre-election strategy.

“There is a long process here and the residents of the apartment building have to decide the issue themselves. You have to gather in the community, say which room we are donating, how we adapt it. Now the Government’s approach is that we finance the adaptation of this room. A number of municipalities are also starting to talk about starting to give support, but this is the application of their assets. There are already requirements for new construction and all new buildings will be built with non-privatized premises”, said S. Gentvilas.

In order to install shelters in the basements of apartment buildings, the mayor of Akmenė district proposed to introduce a shelter tax for residents. He said that the collected money would be used to introduce water and install a toilet. S. Gentvilas does not support such a tax and emphasizes that the purpose of the cover is different.

“In our new construction requirements, there is no obligation to have heating, water for a long stay, because the shelter is for 3-4 hours, it is simply to hide from the disaster, to hide from the case of pollution, from military actions.

Covers are not meant for life, so I don’t think separate fees are necessary. They are easy to install. A resident must have 1.5 square meters, the requirement is for 60 percent of the visitors or residents of that building, so, again, if there is an underground garage, residents need to set aside a couple of parking spaces there, when the garage can have several dozen spaces,” he said.

So, according to the environment minister, when we talk about the installation of shelters, we are not talking about very large requirements or resources.

“Without windows, with an electrical outlet, with two entrances – that’s enough,” said S. Gentvilas.

Moreover, he emphasized once again that hiding in such shelters would only be temporary.

“This is to hide from temporary danger, so that you, as residents, can be reached by evacuation or transport to a safer space organized by the municipality and the state. The shelters are intended for 3-4 hours”, asserted S. Gentvilas.

The Minister of the Interior, Agnė Bilotaitė, commented this week that there are currently 3,800 shelters in Lithuania, and about 36 percent, that is, about 1 million people, can hide in them. population. According to the minister, according to the current plan, 60 percent would have the opportunity to hide in cities, and 40 percent in regions. population.

In the city of Vilnius, 49 percent could hide in shelters, in Šiauliai – 54, in Kaunas – 34, in Klaipėda – 18, and in Panevėžys, according to the data of the Ministry of the Interior, 6 percent could hide. population.