A member of Astana's public council, Kanat Alin, made such a proposal.
According to Informburo.kz, Alin recounted how, during the construction of the fountain, he repeatedly informed the city administration that it was being built in violation of regulations.
"No objects on the Esil River that are not related to navigation should be allowed. Now not only has it been built, but it's not even working. It needs to be demolished. It's completely nonsensical to have such structures on the river," he said during a council meeting.
In turn, Deputy Head of the Department for Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management of Astana, Samat Abdullin, stated that demolishing the fountain in the near future would not be possible, as it serves as material evidence in a criminal case.
"We understand that this project was built by the Department of Culture. I think that as long as the investigation is ongoing, no one will allow us to demolish it, because it is material evidence," Abdullin stated.
It will be recalled that earlier it became known that the former head of Astana's Department of Culture is suspected of embezzlement during the construction of the "Solnca" (Sun) fountain in 2016.
As reported, the fountain was built without undergoing a public procurement procedure, without drawing up project and estimate documentation, and without passing a state expert review.
Now the structure is in a hazardous condition and has been non-functional since 2017. The amount of embezzled funds exceeds 1 billion tenge.