In late November 2024, journalists in Kostanay received a letter concerning expensive renovations being carried out in the office of the Deputy Akim of Kostanay Region Gulbaram Musagazina.
According to the publication ‘Our Newspaper’, the author claims that Musagazina took up her post in July 2024, and a couple of months later decided to refurbish the office, in violation of building regulations.
‘The most piquant part of this incredible story is the idea of installing an additional toilet. Yes, an ordinary lavatory. You might ask, what is the catch? Try installing a toilet in the living room of an apartment in a high-rise building where the nearest sewer riser is in another wing of the building. If this idea of installing a toilet was carried out, then the whim of one person poses a real danger to everyone in that building. And concerns about the cost of furniture seem quite trivial’, the message reads.
The journalists sent a written request to the regional akimat. In response, the head of the apparatus of the Kostanay Region Akim, Murat Sandybayev, stated that only painting work had been carried out in the office, which Musagazina paid for from her personal funds.
However, the exact amount of expenditure was not specified in the response. The akimat's apparatus merely noted that ‘the painting work carried out does not breach the uniform style of the premises’.
‘All toilets in the akimat building are installed for common use and are publicly accessible. No reconstruction of the sewage system was carried out. The interior has not been changed. No additional replacements were made. The furniture located in Musagazina's office has not been moved and remains in her office’, Sandybayev stated.
He also emphasised that no renovations had been carried out in the offices of other deputy akims or the akim himself over the past two years.
However, the author of the appeal, having familiarised themselves with the official response, called it a ‘cynical brush-off’ and continued to insist that major repairs had taken place.
‘A private toilet has been installed, the drain of which has been run from the 7th to the 6th floor through office 619. This is easy to check. There should definitely be no sewer riser there, as according to the building's design, it runs through the toilet opposite this office. In other words, it has been installed contrary to all norms and logic. The interior of the office and the rest room have been completely changed’, the author writes.
In a further request to the head of the apparatus of the Kostanay Region Akim, the journalists asked for a tour of the deputy akims' offices, but were refused on the grounds of a ‘secret decree’.
‘In accordance with a decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 4 May 2017 (classified), the offices of the deputy akims of Kostanay Region are considered restricted premises. According to a decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 28 October 2021 (FOUO), media correspondents are not among the persons entitled to visit restricted premises. Therefore, it is not possible to admit a representative of “Our Newspaper”’, reported Asiya Maksut, acting head of the apparatus of the Kostanay Region Akim.
In turn, lawyer Sergei Utkin of the international freedom of speech foundation ‘Adil Soz’ considers such a refusal unjustified.
‘In this case, the akimat does not even cite the name and number of the legal act. It is obvious that a document marked FOUO (For Official Use Only - editor's note) cannot regulate the rights and obligations of journalists. Moreover, information classified as state secrets is explicitly defined in the Law “On State Secrets”’, the expert explained.