In Astana, dozens of car owners have had their vehicles damaged following painting work on the LRT project. According to preliminary data, around 60 cars were splattered with spray paint, which was carried by the wind.
According to Informburo.kz, the owners of the affected cars claim that the paint has bonded to the bodywork and cannot be washed off, now requiring expensive restoration work.
One of them, Ruslan Silin, said that fine, rough particles remained on his car, which can only be removed through deep polishing and the application of a protective coating. According to him, the total cost of the work would be approximately 160,000 tenge. However, the amount offered by the contractor under a mediation agreement was nearly two-thirds lower.
"They are paying some amount, but it is, of course, three times less than the damage to our car was assessed at. But we don't have time to wait and go to court," he stated.
For their part, a representative of the contractor claims that during the painting, the distance to the nearest residential areas was 200–300 metres, and the weather conditions were unexpected.
"We didn't bring the paint and paint these cars ourselves. We didn't know the weather would be like this. They were very far away. No one thought the wind would carry the paint," said the organisation's representative.
At the company City Transportation Systems (CTS), responsible for implementing the LRT project, they stated that they are working on resolving the incident. However, some owners are dissatisfied with the proposed compensation terms and intend to go to court if the damage is not fully compensated.
Incidentally, this is not the first time residents of the capital have complained about insufficient control during LRT painting. In May, a video of an Astana resident circulated on social media, complaining that LRT builders had sprayed his car with paint. According to the author, he had parked his car in the airport's staff car park.
At the time, the CTS press service explained that they had put up a warning sign about the painting work, but later removed it due to an error in the text.