Scandal Over Sidewalk Replacement in Medeu District Escalates

The controversy over the replacement of paving stones in Almaty’s Medeu district is growing. Civic activist Sanzhar Bokayev accused the district akim of manipulating facts and spending hundreds of millions of tenge on unnecessary repairs, Orda.kzreports.

A budget of 296 million tenge was allocated for a short section of Valikhanov Street, although the paving stones there were in good condition and did not require replacement.

Medeu district akim Yerkebulan Orazalin responded that the stones had been laid in 2004 and were due for replacement.

The paving on the boulevard was laid in 2004, it has lasted almost 21 years. Last year, an attempt was made to replace it partially, but the right sample could not be found. The color, shape, and chamfer were different. So it was impossible to preserve the covering through partial replacement. In addition, the modification itself was outdated, and the akimat decided to completely replace the paving with new material,
 explained the district akim.

However, Bokayev pointed out that in his response video, the official stood on a different street, Qarasay Batyr, and commented out of context. The activist filmed himself walking along Valikhanov Street, showing the condition of the paving stones:

Bokayev also noted the repeated spending:

In 2017, 167 million tenge was allocated, in 2024 another 150 million — no one knows how that was used. And this year, as the akim said, another 290 million for this section. Listen, are you okay in the head? To allocate so much money for such a small area, and for work that isn’t even necessary?

Orazalin said that the removed stones are stored with contractors and reused elsewhere. But Bokayev insisted this is misleading: tens of thousands of stones are involved, yet only 25 pallets were seen at the location indicated by the akim.

The pricing of the work also raised red flags.

The replacement of paving and curbs cost 100 million tenge, making the price per square meter over 32,000 tenge. In reality, Bokayev said, one square meter should cost no more than 9,000–10,000 tenge.

Another 60 million tenge was allocated to replace metal fences allegedly “affected by corrosion.” Bokayev argued they only needed washing and painting.

According to him, material and labor costs are grossly inflated.

For Antikor, corruption is only the fact of giving a bribe. But this is all corruption, you understand? These are long-established schemes to profit from. Get with it! If the whole country has seen this, and the akimat continues to disgrace itself nationwide, let’s put an end to it together once and for all. Because wasting our money like this makes no sense. Our country will never become economically strong with such practices,
 concluded Bokayev.

Original Author: Alina Pak