1 March 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
People In Tatarstan Unhappy With Yeltsin
According to public opinion polls recently completed by the Social Research Center of Tatarstan's State Council, 91 percent of Tatarstan's population is not satisfied with Russian President Boris Yeltsin's agenda and 81 percent favor his impeachment. Favorites among respondents to replace Yeltsin are: Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov (favored by 51 percent of rural people, 26 percent of urban respondents); Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov (23 percent of urban); Aleksandr Lebed (26 percent of urban), and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov (19 percent of urban).
Tatar President Says Staff Shuffle To Continue
In an interview with Tatar state television on 26 February, President Mintimer Shaimiev said that the head of the Tukay regional administration will soon be dismissed and that "other staff rearrangements in the Cabinet of Ministers and local administrations are to come soon."
Incidence Of Cancer Cases Rising...
Rustem Khasanov, the chief medic at Kazan's Oncological Center, said on 28 February that he could no longer remain silent "about the growing number of cancer cases in the republic." He said in 1998 some 7,000 people died of cancer and that 26 new cases were registered daily in Tatarstan. Currently the Oncologocal Center hosts about 350 patients, though its was designed for a maximum capacity of 90. Construction of the new Oncological Center began in 1980 but was stopped due to a lack of funds.
...And Dirty Water Problems Plague Republic
According to Tatarstan's Environment Ministry, water purification centers in athe republic had to increase the chlorination rates in drinking water last year because of the deteriorating quality of water in the Volga, Kama, and Kazanka rivers. The Ministry of Health said that the number of intestinal infections in Tatarstan rose by 18 percent in 1998. Six cases of enteric fever as a result of impure water were also registered the same year.
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi