The authorities in Pavlodar plan to demolish the sewing workshop of the Public Association "Kazakh Society of the Blind" (PA "KSB"), whose workers are opposed to this initiative.
We previously wrote about this case; now new details of the dispute between the city authorities and the society of blind and visually impaired people have emerged.
According to MIA "Kazinform", Pavlodar maslikhat deputies voted to allocate funds for the purchase of two land plots for the construction of a new "comfortable" school. One of the owners will be paid over 269.2 million tenge. The land plot of the "Society of the Blind" was valued at nearly 1.5 billion tenge.
"Regarding the second plot, there is verbal consent, but they have their own procedure, according to which they will consider this matter on 2 April. That is, the head himself gave verbal consent. Now it just needs to be confirmed. There will be a board meeting on 2 April, and they will certainly give consent for the purchase of this land plot.", stated the deputy mayor of the city, Kadisha Begotayeva.
It should be noted that in the workshops, blind and visually impaired people produce mattresses, bed linen, clothing, and filter covers for the Aluminium Plant. Many blind people have lived in the area where the enterprise is located since childhood. Therefore, relocation is almost impossible for them.
The workshop belongs to a republican public association. The same article reports that the leadership of the "Kazakh Society of the Blind" in Astana gave verbal approval for the buyout. In turn, the workers of the Pavlodar enterprise claim they did not give their consent.
They also fear that most of the compensation will go to the capital, and the local blind and visually impaired people will not be able to restart production in a new location.
A decision on the buyout of the plot is planned to be made through a vote at an extraordinary meeting on 2 April. However, the residents of Pavlodar do not believe in a positive outcome for them, and are already writing appeals to the prosecutor's office and members of the Majilis.
"Relocation to another area will lead to the complete destruction of the only enterprise in the city of Pavlodar for the blind, where they can exercise their right to work. We know that in a similar manner, as a result of forced expropriation for state needs, enterprises in the cities of Karaganda and Astana were destroyed. The disabled received nothing in return; the leadership of the Kazakh Society of the Blind did not publicise the results of these transactions: there is neither a land plot nor money.", write the visually impaired individuals in their appeal.
In turn, explaining the need for the school's construction, the chairman of the city maslikhat, Koblanbek Kozhin, pointed to a shortage of school places in Pavlodar, noting that the Usolsky microdistrict lacks approximately 1,300 school places.
"Allocating the money does not mean it will be spent tomorrow. If there are any inconsistencies, of course, we will find a use for these funds in the next budget adjustment.", concluded Koblanbek Kozhin.
Reasonable questions arise: why was it decided to build the school specifically on the site of the "Society of the Blind" workshop? Could no other plot have been found for this?
It will be recalled that the PA "KSB" had previously faced legal proceedings regarding the return of property. At that time, its representatives also appealed to the authorities, specifically to the president.
It all began in 2015 when the former chairman of the PA "KSB", Baybolat Aubakirov, abusing his official position, sold property of the PA "KSB" to third parties, who then took out a bank loan, providing the real estate as collateral. Subsequently, the third parties went bankrupt, and the property came under the control of the bank.
Later, the public association recovered material damages from Aubakirov and purchased a 4-storey building in Astana. However, the PA "KSB" did not stop there; it intended to reclaim the property that the bank had previously taken as collateral from the third parties. It should be noted that the court accepted the claim of the PA "KSB".