Recently, residents of the Burabay district of the Akmola region were stunned by the news that the regional prosecutor's office had allegedly decided to seize from private ownership into the ownership of the State National Nature Park (SNNP) "Burabay" more than 1,000 land plots, which had previously been illegally removed from the national park lands.
According to IA "Tirazh kz", in 2023 the prosecutor's office of the Akmola region began an inspection of land plots issued within the territory of the SNNP "Burabay". During the inspection, it turned out that 1,060 plots had been provided to owners illegally. At the same time, plots that were privatised even before the formation of the national park in 2003 also fell into the so-called "risk zone".
As local residents told IA "Nayza Kokshe", their plots were visited by a commission consisting of representatives of SNNP "Burabay" and the Land Committee, who claimed that, based on certain "classified documents", the lands could be seized from private ownership.
Meanwhile, the deputy akim of the Burabay district, Begakhmet Makhmеtov, told journalists that the commission is currently merely conducting monitoring of land, specifically to determine the type of ownership right to the land plot, its intended purpose, whether it is developed or not, etc.
It is known that in September of this year, the Burabay District Maslikhat cancelled some of its previous decisions regarding approved town planning documents, in particular, decisions were cancelled approving the detailed planning project for the "Sanatorium 'Svetly'" microdistrict, the "Sanatorium 'Shchuchinsky'" microdistrict, and partially the settlement of Burabay.
However, there were no official statements from the prosecutor's office about the intention to seize land, and the district akimat declared its lack of competence on this issue. In order to clarify the situation and calm the frightened population, on 7 November, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Akmola region, Marat Baqtybekuly, met with the owners of the land plots.
According to him, no one intends to deprive local residents of their rights to their private property. The prosecutor's office conducted the inspection to identify the number of illegally issued lands within the national park territory and to improve the work of local executive bodies. Moreover, the department does not intend to seize the plots that are on the list from their owners.
During the meeting, local residents themselves stated that they had learned about the possible seizure of land plots through "word of mouth". Later, they approached local authorities for clarification, where they were allegedly told that the lands would be seized.
The deputy regional prosecutor had to repeat several times that private land plots will remain the property of the residents, and only undeveloped lands will be returned to the ownership of the SNNP.
The impression is that someone among the local residents (and possibly also representatives of the akimat), out of ignorance, misled people, which caused the residents' anxiety and once again highlighted the insufficiently well-established communication between local authorities and the population.
For its part, the editorial board of FBRK has sent an official request to the prosecutor's office of the Akmola region to obtain a more detailed explanation of the situation, so to speak, straight from the horse's mouth.
To be continued…