The executive director of the public association "Әділдік жолы" Didar Smagulov visited a location in the Turkistan Region where, according to documents, a dam costing 2.2 billion tenge was built using budget funds.
On his Facebook page, the activist reported that the water-retaining structure was supposed to be up to 2.5 metres high and 40 kilometres long.
"Can you see the dam here? No? Well, it is here. <…> In the Turkistan Region, 2.2 billion tenge was spent on it at the end of 2021. The structure was inspected once in 2022, it was immediately washed away, and the dam was never used again. Now they are waiting for the warranty to expire so they can wash their hands of it (the paradox). You ask: where is the local Anti-Corruption Agency looking? I am curious too. After all, it asked the akimat to check this fact.", wrote Didar Smagulov.
According to the activist, the Anti-Corruption Agency "stalled" the official request regarding this matter from 23 November 2023.
"Five months have passed, and they are still waiting. You need to investigate when people tell you about risks, not when there are floods and casualties. Many surprised journalists called me when we announced the sum of 97 billion spent over 2 years on various dams, dykes and bank protections. This procurement was not included because it was earlier and carried out as the construction of non-residential premises to hide everything as much as possible. But I highly doubt there will be any progress in Turkistan with the current leadership: now the dam inspection will be carried out by GASK, which is the administration of the akimat itself. Do you think they will find violations (shoot themselves in the foot)?" – questioned Didar Smagulov.