Iecava Shuts Down Belarus-Made Lifts in Nine-Storey Blocks After Safety Warning
Lifts in both nine-storey buildings in Iecava, Latvia, have been halted after the Consumer Rights Protection Centre found safety non-compliance in Belarusian-made equipment. About 70 such lifts nationwide fail requirements, many of them in Riga and Daugavpils.
Lift operation has been suspended in both nine-storey apartment buildings in Iecava, in Latvia's Bauska municipality. The decision was taken by the building manager after the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC), the state supervisory authority, identified safety non-compliance in lifts made at the Belarusian plant Mogilevliftmash, according to 360TV News.
Residents on foot
With the lifts out of service, residents, including young mothers carrying children and elderly people with mobility problems, must climb 162 steps every day. The lifts in question were replaced at residents' expense in 2013, but they come from the same Mogilev factory.
Differing approaches
Anita Cehanovica, a representative of the Bauska municipality utility company, says the manager decided to close the lifts so as not to endanger lives. She says it is currently impossible to comment on whether violations really exist and how many, since a specialist still has to arrive and issue an opinion.
PTAC representative Sanita Gertmane stresses that the authority has not demanded an immediate shutdown. In her words, the option least burdensome for residents was chosen, and the lifts are in effect allowed to keep running, while the manager may additionally take risk-mitigation measures.
Wider implications
Across Latvia, roughly 70 lifts from the Mogilev plant fail safety requirements. A large share are in nine-storey buildings in Riga and Daugavpils. Whether managers in those cities follow Iecava's example and switch off lifts en masse will depend on the final conclusion of the technical examination.
