Farms in all districts of the Brest region have already started harvesting rape crops, Mariya Kunts, an agriculture official with the regional executive committee, told BelaPAN.
According to her, farms in two districts, the Pinsk and Brest ones, have also begun bringing in the barley harvest, reaping 3.1 to 3.4 tons from a hectare.
This year's harvesting campaign is going to be difficult, Ms. Kunts noted. According to her, severe storms on July 9 and 19 damaged more than 50,000 hectares of grain and leguminous crops in the region.
In addition, June frosts affected crops in the Lyakhovichi and Gantsevichi districts.
Some 1,700 combines are expected to be used in the harvesting campaign in the region. Seventy brand-new combines from the Gomel-based Gomselmash agricultural equipment manufacturer have been
added to the region's stock of harvesting machinery this year, and 108 more combines are expected to be delivered shortly.
The regional government has provided 7 billion rubels for purchasing one third of the necessary fuel. An additional 3 billion rubels was given for repairing old machinery. As Ms. Kunts noted, the offered incentives should help improve the performance of those involved in the campaign. Under the regional government's decision, the best-performing district will be awarded 7 million rubels and the winner among farms will be given 2.5 million rubels.
An Orthodox priest in Kobrin, Brest region, on July 20 consecrated a plot of land allotted for the construction of the Birth of Christ Church in the city's new neighborhood.
The new church, sixth in Kobrin, will be built within three years and replace a tent that houses services for the local parish at present, Archpriest Vladimir Kornelyuk told BelaPAN.
The consecration ceremony was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the city's liberation from the Nazi occupation. The church will commemorate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in
the Great Patriotic War. Nikolai Lukashik, dean of the future church, was given a sealed capsule with an appeal to future generations that will be placed in the temple's foundation. The Russian Orthodox Church is to begin the construction of two churches in the Brest region this
year. There are a total of 153 Orthodox churches in the region.
A group of illegal migrants from Asia, the third one this month, was apprehended by police on July 17 in the Kobrin district, Brest region, Viktor Vasilevsky, spokesman of the regional police department, told BelaPAN.
All the eight migrants, who proved to be natives of India, had no identification documents, Mr. Vasilevsky said.
According to him, police officers and border guards had seized a group of three Pakistanis and an Indian the previous day. Ten illegal migrants from Afghanistan were apprehended on July 10. All the three groups were discovered near the village of Bystritsa. The migrants, believed to be heading for European Union countries, were put in a detention center
pending a decision on their deportation from Belarus.
A district judge in the Brest region recently sentenced an 85-year-old woman to 5 years in prison with a one-year suspension for growing poppies and selling straw. Given her age, the judge gave the woman the minimum possible sentence, and the old lady will be pardoned unless she commits another offense within the year.
To obtain evidence against the suspect, the drug control police had an undercover agent visit the woman at her village house in the Stolin district, who bought poppy straw from her and paid with marked
bills, Anatoly Dzhuro, secretary with the district court, told BelaPAN.
The woman later refused to show where she was keeping the money.
According to Mr. Dzhuro, last year the Stolin district police filed 108 charge sheets in connection with illegal poppy growing, seized 13 kilograms of narcotic substances and instituted criminal proceedings against six people. Thirty-six charge sheets have been filled since this year began. Nine people, including seven retirees, with three aged over 70, are expected to stand trial.
28 July 2004