Residents of Osokorky and Vodnykiv Island accuse the Kyiv City Military Administration and its head, Timur Tkachenko, of facilitating the illegal sand dumping on the Dnipro riverfront by the Kovalska construction company.
This was reported by Kyiv resident Yevhen Shevchenko on Facebook.
According to the activist, residents complain about the constant rumble of dredgers and barges near the windows of residential buildings. In June, due to sand dredging on Vodnykiv Island, the soil under the private house of local resident Lyudmyla Ponegova sank. A sinkhole formed in the yard, which gradually grew larger. However, after massive publicity and numerous complaints, Kovalska stopped working on the island.
Currently, according to local residents, work is underway again near the shore of Vodnykiv Island. Residents report the appearance of dead fish along the coast, which they attribute to oil emissions and the operation of machinery that affects the condition of the Dnipro riverbed.
Environmental activists say they have repeatedly filed complaints with the responsible authorities, but the situation remains unchanged.
Activists and residents are demanding that the Kyiv authorities
- Facilitate the immediate cessation of operations by Kovalska;
- Conduct checks on the legality of permits issued for sand dredging operations;
- Hold accountable those officials who contribute to the destruction of the ecosystem.
According to activists, the permit for barge traffic on the river is signed weekly by the head of the KCSA, Timur Tkachenko. Citizens call on the administration to take steps to finally resolve the problem. They also emphasized that they have repeatedly filed complaints with the responsible services, but the situation has not changed significantly.
The company's position
Kovalska denies that its activities caused the fish deaths and insists that sand extraction is supervised by a number of responsible authorities. According to the company's statement, sand has been extracted here for over half a century.
Activists' reaction
The author of the post considers Kovalskaya's position to be untrue, emphasizing that, based on his observations, sand has not been extracted at the site for at least 20 years. The activist also insists that he has personally recorded the death of fish on multiple occasions.
"If your equipment does not bother anyone, why don't you provide statistics on complaints from local residents to the police and the Kyiv City State Administration? And if it does not destroy or violate anything, why did the Deputy Prosecutor General file a lawsuit demanding that your license be revoked?" comments Yevhen Shevchenko.
As a reminder, in Kyiv, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have brought a case to court over the illegal transfer of a part of the nature reserve fund of national importance in Nyvky Park for construction.
