The people of Klaipėda are no longer satisfied with the mess left by the builders: violations have doubled

Investigating the complaints of residents and business entities that contractors working in the construction sector often ignore the cleanliness rules established in the city, the Public Order Department of the Klaipėda City Municipality inspected more than half a dozen construction sites in the city in October of this year alone.

Protocols of administrative misconduct for the identified violations have been drawn up for 8 companies performing construction works. Since the beginning of the year, fines for various offenses have been imposed on several dozen construction companies performing work in the port city.

“I keep getting complaints from residents about the way the construction works are being carried out, so I visited the construction sites myself more than once. In fact, soil and gravel from some construction sites pollute the streets, and when it rains, they fall through the surface drainage grates into the networks, from which all the dirt flows into the Dane River and other water bodies. The contracting companies must finally realize that by not taking care of the construction sites, they become polluters of the city, and we will not tolerate that. I understand that we will not develop the work culture of construction workers in one day, but constant control is mandatory and all polluters will receive sanctions without exception”, asserts the mayor of the port city, Arvydas Vaitkus.

In compliance with the approved City Management and Cleanliness Rules, persons carrying out construction or repair work must maintain the construction site and the access roads throughout the construction period, perform the work in such a way that the traffic zone and other areas outside the construction site are not polluted.

“We aim to create an attractive living environment in Klaipėda. This is one of the strategic goals of the city. However, feeling good is sometimes hindered by small things, such as muddy streets and sidewalks, strewn construction materials, collapsed fences. There are still cases when contractors working in construction drive their dirty equipment from the construction sites to the streets of the city, carrying out work in an unfenced area. This must not be the case, we need to develop a proper work culture, so there will continue to be a strong response to complaints from residents about contractors who do not follow the rules. We do not aim to punish, our goal is an orderly city that is pleasant to visit and, of course, good to live in,” says Klaipėda City Mayor Arvydas Vaitkus.

Klaipėda city municipality invites contractors working in the construction business to be socially responsible – not to pollute the city with dirty machinery and to comply with the established city rules.

Since the beginning of this year, 11 administrative offense protocols have been drawn up in Klaipėda for violations related to order and cleanliness at construction sites and their access points. This is twice as much as last year. A warning or a fine from 20 to 140 euros is provided for a violation of the Rules of Handling and Cleanliness, a repeated offense entails a fine from 140 to 600 euros.

Klaipėda municipality specialists also check compliance with the requirements of the local fee for issuing a permit to carry out excavation works – roads, streets, courtyards, sidewalks, squares, parks, squares and engineering networks in the protection zone, as well as their cluttering with construction materials, failure to erect the necessary road signs, lack of fencing of excavation sites. For such violations, twice as many violations were recorded this year than last year – 18.

In 2022, there were only 9.

For failure to comply with the requirements of the local toll without a permit to carry out excavation work, construction companies are subject to a fine of 30 to 140 euros, in case of repeated violations, the fines increase from 140 to 600 euros.