Residents of several two-storey houses in Almaty are complaining that for decades they have been forced to live in dangerous conditions, fearing for their own safety.
According to KTK, three buildings are falling apart before their eyes: ceilings are leaking in apartments, floors are subsiding, and heating pipes constantly burst.
Pensioner Valentina Mamotenko claims that for the last 15 years she has been living like 'on a powder keg'. In her apartment, the walls and floors are covered in cracks, and vibration can be felt even from passing lorries. The woman says she is forced to carry out repairs alone, but her strength and health are dwindling.
Her neighbours have similar problems. People fear that in freezing weather they could be left without heating, as pipes in the attics burst regularly, and water floods the apartments. The hallways have a persistent smell of damp, and the floors are so rotten that residents nail boards over holes to avoid falling into the basement.
Meanwhile, modern housing complexes have long since sprung up around the dilapidated buildings. Residents dream of moving into similar flats, but they cannot yet sell their homes — there are no buyers.
According to local resident Yelena Polovinkina, their house was declared temporary 40 years ago, 'pending demolition'. However, the relocation never took place.
"We have lived here since 1984. When they gave us this flat, on the warrant, back in the Soviet Union, they wrote: 'Temporary, pending demolition'. The demolition still hasn't happened. According to the latest information I had, we are second in line for demolition. And those houses above us, above Festivalnaya Street, they are third, fourth, and so on. But theirs are being demolished, and ours are not," the woman claims.
According to the Housing Cooperative, the priority is to demolish frame-reed houses, after which the turn will come to brick buildings. However, residents are certain: they will have to wait a long time, and all this time they continue to live in conditions that threaten their health and lives.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that in Aktobe, pensioners, young families, and people with special needs, after two years of appeals to various authorities, still have not had their housing problems resolved. A hostel-type building where about 120 people live was declared unsafe, but some families still remain living there.