Not long ago, the editorial team of FBRK reported that since Kosshy was granted city status in 2021, the akimat's spending on maintaining road infrastructure has increased significantly: in just a few years, costs rose from 1.4 million to 595 million tenge.
Our editorial team sent an official request to the Akimat of Kosshy city to find out the actual reasons for the increase in the cost of maintaining road infrastructure.
The city akimat provided us with a detailed response, which indicates that such costs are due to accumulated problems related to the city's infrastructure.
To recall, in a previous article we examined four contracts for the installation and maintenance of road facilities, which the city akimat had concluded over several years with the same supplier - SMEU Astana LLP.
Our editorial team noted that the annual increase in the contract amounts did not correspond to the proportional increase in the number of traffic light installations in Kosshy.
At the same time, the information set out in the technical specifications of the contracts did not provide a clear explanation of what exactly was behind such a significant increase in costs.
The city akimat told us that at the time Kosshy received the status of a city of regional significance, there were only 7 traffic lights in operation. And during an inspection of road facilities in September 2021, it became clear that the traffic lights and road signs did not meet road safety standards.
“The condition of the cable infrastructure of the traffic light installations was in an emergency state; some of them were simply lying on the ground; traffic lights were missing or not working in regulated directions, creating hazardous situations”, the akimat reported.
It was for this reason that the Akimat of Astana city, together with the Akimat of Kosshy city, signed a memorandum on the use of the capital's automated traffic management system (ATMS).
From the response, it follows that this capital transport system allows for remote monitoring of the condition of traffic lights in Kosshy, ensuring round-the-clock maintenance of traffic light installations.
In 2022, the akimat entered into a contract with SMEU Astana LLP for around 26 million tenge. The contract included, among other things, services for installing the new transport system and setting up its 'workstation'.
It was noted that the work required rapid completion, and holding a tender would take too much time, so the akimat decided to temporarily select a supplier — SMEU Astana LLP. After the company won the tender, collaboration continued under the main contract.
Then followed the procurements we previously reported on.
Specifically, one of the contracts for the maintenance of road facilities in 2022 cost the local budget approximately 1.4 million tenge. However, this amount, it turned out, was insufficient to carry out all the necessary work. Moreover, the supplier utilised these funds much earlier than planned.
For this reason, in the same year, the parties signed a similar contract, increasing the amount to 30.5 million tenge.
In 2023, according to the akimat's response, the urgent need to ensure road safety persisted, and the contract value rose to 264 million tenge.
“Due to the significant allocation of funds in 2023, the accumulated problems in the field of road safety were resolved, and the technical foundation for the future development of Kosshy was also laid”, the local akimat noted.
For example, under the contract, old traffic light equipment was updated and new equipment was installed, projection lighting was provided at pedestrian crossings, and fresh road markings were applied.
This year, the contract was concluded for 595 million tenge. However, due to widespread spring floods, the amount was reduced to 260 million tenge, and after further budget review, down to 237 million tenge.
To date, the supplier has already completed work worth more than 72 million tenge.
It turns out that the significant increase in spending on road infrastructure maintenance is due to Kosshy recently acquiring the status of a city of regional significance and the implementation of the new road system.
And although the actual increase in costs to 595 million tenge did not occur this year, such expenditure, nevertheless, seemed relevant before the budget revision.
And given that Kosshy is only at the initial stage of its promised modernisation, it is likely that spending on maintaining the city will only increase.