Workers of the bankrupt phosphate ore mining enterprise 'Karatau' in the Zhambyl region have appealed to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with a complaint about meagre compensation for occupational diseases.
According to media reports, at a press conference in Almaty, worker representative Zhaksylyk Aimbetov stated that affected employees did not receive proper compensation for harm to their health after the enterprise was liquidated.
"This is an outrage. We have repeatedly appealed to the president, the government, and MPs. You present everything to them within the law, but nothing changes. These people worked and lost their health, yet none of them receive payments reaching the minimum wage – 10,000 to 25,000 tenge. Only 25 people are still alive today, although there were initially more than 200. What should these disabled people do? Are they waiting for them all to die, or what? Is that how they want to resolve it? How can we convey our pain, our heartfelt cry and our impoverished existence? We would like our president, whom we have addressed several times, to pay attention to us. Everyone is just waiting for the approval of the head of state. These are people, after all, suffering for years. Some take out loans to support their health. Objectively, no one wants to consider this issue. Even though it is a drop in the ocean for Kazakhstan's budget," said Aimbetov.
It is reported that despite the resumption of bankruptcy proceedings, the issue of compensation remains unresolved.
According to available information, the current owner of the enterprise, Kazphosphate LLP, is not the legal successor of Karatau and, according to the prime minister's response to a parliamentary enquiry in 2014, bears no responsibility for its obligations.
Meanwhile, it emerged that in 2021, representatives of the Nigmatulin family became co-owners of Kazphosphate, and the son of Nurlan Nigmatulin, Nurkhan Nurlaanov, was appointed head of the company.