Prosecutors in Almaty have announced a sentence in the case concerning the failure of the automated early earthquake warning system (ASRO), which did not alert the population during the tremors on 23 January last year.
According to media, the court found the general director of TNS-INTEC LLP, three deputy heads of the city's emergency situations department, and representatives of the design and technical supervision guilty of various violations.
Prosecutors emphasised that an inspection of the ASRO procurement was carried out on the instructions of the Head of State and the Prosecutor General after the system failed to activate during the January earthquake.
It is reported that the head of the contracting organisation supplied substandard equipment and drew up fictitious certificates of work completed. According to the investigation, this led to the embezzlement of budget funds on an especially large scale.
It is noted that the deputy heads of the Emergency Situations Department were negligent in accepting the equipment, and the supervision specialists failed to ensure proper oversight.
As a result, the Military Court of the Almaty Garrison imposed prison sentences and bans on holding certain positions in state and quasi-state bodies on those involved.
Recall that at the beginning of last year, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 occurred 264 km from Almaty. The intensity at the time was estimated at 5 points. Aftershocks were also recorded afterwards.
After the earthquake, residents had many questions for the Almaty authorities. For example, inhabitants of the metropolis were puzzled as to why the public warning system did not activate during the emergency.
The then head of the Almaty Emergency Situations Department, Nurlan Atygayev, stated that "sirens are only triggered when earthquakes stronger than 5.5 points are detected", whereas, according to his assurances, the amplitude at the time was only 4-5 points.
Furthermore, residents of the southern capital complained about receiving SMS earthquake alerts late. The Emergency Situations Department told them that mobile network operators could not process the information quickly enough, and therefore operational data arrived late.
At a meeting on seismic safety, President Tokayev criticised the work of the authorised agencies and instructed the Anti-Corruption Service together with the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate how the budget funds allocated for the warning system had been spent. It is noted that the Minister of Emergency Situations, Syrym Sharipkhanov, was later removed from his post.
In July, Kazakhstan adopted a comprehensive plan for the development of the seismological industry for 2024-2028. The corresponding resolution was signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektenov.