New Paving Stones From Central Almaty Taken To Private Yards: How The Akimat “Utlizes” Millions From The Budget

Public activist Sanzhar Bokayev has raised concerns over possible theft of materials in Almaty. According to him, contractors together with officials, under the guise of landscaping, are removing almost-new paving stones from city streets and transporting them to private sites. The blogger filmed the process and published the video on his social media, Orda.kz reports.

On the morning of August 27, along the “12 Months” alley, Bokayev spotted workers dismantling paving stones that had been purchased with budget funds and loading them onto a truck with a manipulator. The activist followed the vehicle to the village of Zhandosova, where the tiles were unloaded near a private house.

Bokayev called the police and demanded that an investigative task force be dispatched.

The tiles were in excellent condition and did not need to be replaced. They remove good paving stones, sell them, and lay slightly different ones in their place, also new. The budget is being ‘mastered,’ and the materials disappear. the activist said.

Some 490 million tenge were allocated from the budget for improvements on Ualikhanov Street. According to Bokayev, however, the funds are being spent on dismantling and replacing perfectly usable surfaces, while more than two hundred city streets still lack asphalt altogether.

He added that after his intervention, one of the trucks refused to unload the paving stones and returned them to the Akimat’s storage base in Almaty. He considers this direct evidence that the material was intended for illegal sale, but the attempt failed due to his actions.

Almaty residents also voiced frustration:

I said, ‘Why are you taking this away?’ At the very least, they could bring it into our yards. What an outrage, what barbarity,one woman told the activist. 

Bokayev claimed the scheme originated under former Akim Yerbolat Dosayev, and that the current city leadership has not yet had time to address it.

The activist pledged to hand over his collected evidence to the Anti-Corruption Service and the National Security Committee.

Earlier, Orda.kz reported that under the pretext of landscaping, Almaty authorities have been laying paving stones en masse where trees once stood, rather than planting new ones.

Where trees remain, paving is often laid tightly around their bases, leaving no exposed soil. Experts warn that this deprives roots of air and moisture, while the paving overheats the soil — ultimately killing the trees. They have condemned the practice as barbaric and a violation of environmental standards.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov