The Mayor of Almaty, Yerbolat Dossayev, has promised that by the end of 2025, street lighting levels in the city will reach 100%.
According to Bes.media, at a meeting with residents of the Bostandyk District, the mayor outlined plans to improve street lighting in the city.
Journalists present in the hall noted that city residents are complaining about dark alleyways and the switching off of lights in previously illuminated areas.
"No city has solved this problem yet. But we are on the way. This year, it is planned to increase the city's lighting coverage to 85%, and by the end of 2025 to 100%," he stated.
The mayor said that special lighting programmes have been developed in each district of the city to address the issue.
"Either through the 'Participatory Budget', or we address issues of direct financing for high-quality street lighting. This year, the company 'Almaty Kala Zharyk' is working much more efficiently. We have allocated the money, and it is under the administration of the district mayors. I believe the situation has improved, but it is not ideal. We hope to resolve the city's lighting issues by 2025. In addition, we are now starting to address issues regarding park lighting, architectural illumination of buildings, and so on; implementation will take place in 2025," responded the Mayor of Almaty.
It may be recalled that in the spring of last year, the Mayor of Almaty, Yerbolat Dossayev, at a meeting with residents of the Almaly District, reported that he intended to divide the street lighting services by district and attract new companies.
Honoured Energy Worker of the CIS, Gabiden Yussupov, criticised this statement. According to him, such a division by district is impossible, as the transformer substations supplying street lighting are only located in specific parts of the city.
Yussupov said that because of this, all electrical networks in Almaty would need to be reworked, which would require additional billions from the budget.