Why Oskemen Residents Don't Leave, Akim Explained

Akim of the East Kazakhstan region, Yermek Kosherbayev, believes that despite the environmental situation and the change in time zone, Oskemen is a wonderful city, Orda.kz reports.

He says the city's population is growing.

If 330 thousand people lived there in 2014, then the population has increased by 60 thousand by this year. 

Therefore, the Akim says discussing a mass exodus is unnecessary. 

The problem is more in the villages - people are leaving because of poor living conditions. But the authorities are working on this too: they are installing internet, water, and other necessary services. This work takes time,
 the Akim said. 

The Akim says Oskemen has always had environmental problems. In Soviet times, these issues were not considered during construction.

The power plant was built upstream, and the city itself is downstream. For example, in the winter of 2010, the temperature dropped to -52 degrees, but the Irtysh did not freeze. Because of this, steam from the water mixes with emissions, and the air in the city becomes worse. It says that someone is leaving the city because of this, I have not seen this. Perhaps there are. Perhaps someone thought about it. The city of Oskemen itself is a great city, a wonderful city,
 summed up Kosherbayev.

Original Author: Olga Ibraeva

Read also: 

• Oskemen: Ecological Situation Worsening, Commission Created
• Oskemen: People Spoke Out About Poor Air Quality