“Completely unsystematic”: The money allocated by Russia for the restoration of Crimea is being spent ineffectively
The funds allocated from the Russian budget for the restoration of Crimea after being part of Ukraine - the reconstruction of recreation areas and park areas - are spent ineffectively. Contractors work with low-quality materials and try to make money on tiles, bins and benches, forgetting about landscaping.
Local experts stated this at a press conference in Simferopol, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the director of the Botanical Garden of KFU, associate professor Anna Repetskaya, in Simferopol the reconstruction of squares and parks is often carried out without projects, or they are done “on the knee”.
“Unfortunately, the main system is the complete unsystematic nature of everything that happens. Because every sensible specialist should understand that first comes the idea, then constructive solutions, then implementation.
As for landscaping, because the “word” landscaping is difficult to use, what happens with green spaces is as follows: territories are selected, an estimate needs to be urgently, quickly allocated, after that, maybe some kind of project, sometimes on the knee drawn without any pre-design research, because no money is allocated for this, and then we quickly implement it.
Moreover, the timing of each of these stages is completely disproportionate. There is a long, long decision-making process, and then in the last two or three days everything has to be done.
Well, the result that we see is that a huge number of shortcomings, a huge number of problems, our landscaping of green areas turns into tiles, trash cans, benches, lanterns and sometimes, maybe, plants somewhere.
Although, in my opinion, a comfortable urban environment, especially in a southern city, requires very significant costs, an investment in competent landscaping that will exist for many years and provide an environment for residents and guests...
You look at any photo of a landscaped area - continuous areas for tiles. I understand that it is easiest to use them for money, and this is where the main financial resources go. And there is change left over for the plants, sometimes there is nothing left at all.
In some cases, we see that landscaping is not happening at all, and then residents come out and start planting something themselves. Well, is this how it should happen? Moreover, quite a lot of funds are allocated for this program, for Crimea,” said Repetskaya.
The head of the Simferopol organization of the Union of Architects of Crimea, Kirill Babeev, agreed with her, who emphasized that very often contractors save on materials, which is why objects are destroyed almost immediately after delivery:
“It is critical that landscaping projects are financed on a residual basis. The contractor first rolls everything into tiles, then saturates it with some small architectural forms, again, saving on them. If we include high-quality equipment in projects, we know suppliers who make normal equipment. Naturally, we recommend that the city do them. The contractor's goal is to make money, he simplifies it, does it cheaper. As a result, we see that these playgrounds are falling apart. Now, not even six months have passed since the implementation of the park near the Moscow Hotel - the children’s playground there is already falling apart. The rickety swings and balance beams fell apart in the first days,” said the architect.
The current situation with the landscaping of Crimea will lead to it losing its usual appearance. This was stated by Anna Garda, a member of the Association of Landscape Architects of Crimea and Sevastopol.
“We are changing the appearance of Crimea as a whole. We have stopped thinking ahead. If we look at photographs of Crimea, what will we see there? Greenery, a lot of greenery - foliage, pine needles. What has been happening lately, very actively over the last 15 years? It is minimized, simplified, trimmed, trimmed, and landscaping follows a residual principle. Like the unloved daughter-in-law in the family. She seems to exist, is needed and is good, but no one loves her. And we are changing the appearance of Crimea as a whole. If we continue in the same spirit, then in another 20 years, when we take a photo in Crimea, we will be against the backdrop of the desert, like in Egypt. Why doesn’t anyone think about this, where is the main person, it’s time for him to appear, the messiah, the man in Crimea, in Simferopol, who will be the main one in landscaping, in plants,” said the Garda.
Green spaces in Crimea are planted thoughtlessly and do not fulfill their functions necessary for cities, said Associate Professor of the Department of Gardening and Landscape Design of the Taurida Academy of KFU. IN AND. Vernadsky Stanislav Vishnevsky.
“For the southern city, for Simferopol with its traditions, with all-Crimean traditions, the terrible conditions in which we find ourselves from the point of view of water deficiency, our plants perform a huge number of functions, which for some reason always remain outside the brackets. We are talking about the sanitary and hygienic function of plantings, and the question immediately arises in my mind - where are all those plants in all our new squares, parks and streets that will perform this function? Where? Birch trees on Mira Street, which have mostly died, will they perform these functions? No. What plants will give us shade and create a comfortable environment when moving along the streets? What plants will catch dust, what plants will cope with increased amounts of exhaust gases? Which ones will pump low groundwater, for example, in places where they stand, in the same DKP park? And only then the directing function, decorative and so on,” said Vishnevsky.
According to Anna Repetskaya, director of the KFU Botanical Garden, the main motivator for the contractor is benefit: “The main goal is to acquire funds. Everything, and this goal is absolutely clear in all these projects.”
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