Last week, regional akim Zhetysu Beibit Isabaev, at one of his meetings with the region’s public, answered a question from civil activist Olzhas Ibraimov about the future fate of the Koksu River. The social activist asked the head of the region for his opinion on the persistent demands of river defenders to stop the construction of hydroelectric power station cascades there.
Judging by Mr. Isabaev’s answer, he knows about everything, but, in his opinion, environmental activists are somehow behaving too quietly and modestly. Beibit Isabaev mentioned, but if the protests had been larger and more persistent, then the reaction of the authorities would have been different.
—If the locals tell us to stop, we will. For us this is not a fundamental issue. So far, only athletes are indignant,” Beibit Isabaev noted at the meeting.
In unison with the speeches of the head of the region at the same time, some official and unofficial sources distributed a video on the Internet with a small group of people. In the footage, an old man in a hat runs into those who defend the Koksa River, accusing them of selfish goals and allegedly pursuing their personal gain. At the same time, the pensioner calls rafting athletes catamaran riders.
The head of the public fund «Rivers Without Borders», Alexander Kolotov, told us that the day before they received a response to their appeal from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and were very surprised.
—It turns out that today on the territory of Kazakhstan «rafting» is not recognized as a sport and there is no accredited republican sports federation for the development of rafting, — says Alexander Kolotov.
Last week, on February 18, a group of defenders of the Koksu River in Almaty held a press conference demanding to study the situation surrounding the construction of the hydroelectric power station. Civil activists and scientists have prepared an open letter addressed to the akim of the Kerbulak district of the region, Zhetysu, with a request to provide complete and reliable construction design documentation.
Previously, the public association «Green Solidarity» had already sent a letter to the regional akim Beibit Isabaev with a request to organize a scientific examination with the involvement of specialized specialists, but received a response not from Isabaev, but from the Department of Natural Resources, and with a refusal.
—According to Isabaev’s logic, the fate of the Koksu River should be decided by a handful of residents from the village of Rudnichny, who do not have complete information, do not understand ecology and do not have scientific knowledge. What kind of incompetent akim is this who openly hints at organizing large-scale protests?
If we are building a hearing state where law and order should reign, then first of all, the authorities should approach resolving controversial issues from a professional position, and not incite society to inappropriate actions, — believes Aidar Khadzhimuratov, deputy head of the NGO «Green Solidarity».
According to the plan of the hydropower industry of Kazakhstan for 2020-2030, approved by Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, nine hydroelectric power stations should be built on the Koksu River. At the same time, the length of the mountain river is only 206 km, and today there is not a single scientific examination that would answer the question – how can nine hydroelectric power stations affect the condition of the river?
Aliya Akhmedieva (Ratel.kz)
