President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
has personally inspected the situation in the Terekti, Syrym and Karatobe
districts of the West Kazakhstan region. His working trip began with an aerial
survey of the flooded areas, including six districts and the city of Oral, the
region’s governor Nariman Turegaliyev reported. Around 7,000 people have been
evacuated, with designated points set up. A total of 63 million tenge has been
allocated from the local budget to provide material assistance. Work is
underway to pump out water, secure facilities, and expand culverts.
Following the aerial survey, Tokayev
visited an evacuation point deployed at the school gymnasium in the Karatobe
district center to meet with evacuated residents from nearby villages. He
acknowledged the unprecedented scale of the floods and assured that the state
would take all necessary measures to compensate for losses.
“I came here specifically to
observe the situation on site. This is an unprecedented natural disaster, so we
must unite our efforts to overcome it. The state, the government will provide
financial support. There is no need to worry, the issue will be addressed,” said
the Head of State.
President Tokayev also chaired a
meeting of the emergency response headquarters, noting that several regions
have been flooded, and now there is significant joint work ahead to eliminate
the consequences. The Head of State instructed the government, state agencies, and
regional governors to ensure the restoration of utilities and social
infrastructure as well as to commence the construction of new housing in the
shortest possible time. Besides, he stressed the importance of prioritizing
preventive flood control measures in the future.
“The national headquarters and
the government are given the following instructions. In spring, snow removal,
loosening and breaking up of ice on dangerous sections of rivers, formation of
melt water runoff, and other necessary activities should be carried out in
advance. In the summer-autumn period, it is necessary to ensure timely
cleaning, dredging, and straightening of riverbeds, increasing the capacity of
existing culverts and building new ones under roads and railways, as well as
erecting protective structures and drainage ditches,” added President Tokayev.
The Head of State emphasized the
importance of training hydraulic engineers, irrigators, and other water
specialists, as well as the construction of reservoirs. In addition, it is
necessary to develop a unified algorithm of actions in case of emergency
situations. In his opinion, this document should clearly outline the tasks and
actions of all competent authorities, starting from declaring a state of
emergency and ending with compensation for damage and property restoration.
