In Shymkent, residents of a nine-storey building in the Turan microdistrict are complaining about serious utility problems. The building is home mainly to large families and people with disabilities.
According to Kazinform, the residents said that in the flats they moved into about a year ago, it is cold due to weak heating and poorly installed windows. In addition, water accumulates in the building's basement, and the internal finishing is deteriorating due to the damp.
"The lights are often turned off, so the lift frequently doesn't work. The linoleum is going mouldy, the walls are crumbling, and the wallpaper is bulging. It seems the builders tried to cut costs on materials. <…> We were hoping for better conditions, but instead found ourselves trapped by incompetence and negligence. We only moved in six months ago. We got the housing through a subsidised mortgage. Everything is breaking and falling apart. We hold the windowsills together with tape, and the radiators are far too small for these rooms", they said.
Residents believe it is necessary to install an additional heat pump, but they doubt the reliability of the existing utilities.
For his part, the head of the city construction department, Maksat Meimanaliev, stated that the authorities plan to inspect all 54 flats and oblige the contractors to fix the defects.
"We will solve the pump problem after the inspection. We will draw up a defects report and officially notify the contractors. The water accumulating in the basement will also be dealt with under the warranty obligations. We will set a clear deadline for the developer to eliminate all violations and shortcomings", the official assured.
However, the building's residents say that over the past six months they have been unable to achieve a real solution to the problems and now intend to appeal to the city akim, the prosecutor's office, and, if necessary, the court.
It is worth recalling that in July 2024, a similar incident occurred in the suburbs of Pavlodar. A disabled mother of many children was issued housing with stove heating and faulty utilities in the village of Kenzhekol. The woman appealed to the akim with a request "to be reinstated on the housing waiting list or to be provided with other accommodation suitable for her status as a disabled person", but received a refusal, after which she went to court.
During the same period, a labour veteran, a Group II disabled person from the Akmola region, appealed to the human rights ombudsman for help in getting his electricity reconnected. He said that the power in his flat had been cut off due to a debt of 1,690 tenge. After all the circumstances were clarified, the pensioner's utilities were reconnected without any penalties.