At a meeting of the Upper House of the Kazakh Parliament Senate members expressed the need to impose a moratorium on the construction of facilities in the mountainous and foothill areas of Almaty metropolis. As noted by Andrei Lukin, the ecological balance of the city is under threat. He pointed out that according to the Kazakh Ministry of Emergency Situations, such construction can cause man-made landslides and pose a significant risk to citizens’ lives. The Senate member noted that not only the city residents, but also social activists, seismologists and legal experts are concerned about this serious issue. In general, last year alone a total of 751 violations of land legislation were detected in Almaty, resulting in 156 decisions by local authorities to submit construction cancellation materials to the court, Lukin reported. The Senate member voiced his proposals aimed at addressing the issue of illegal construction in the city.
“The necessary measures include conducting a detailed inventory of the land in the mountainous and foothill areas of Almaty and the districts of the Almaty region adjacent to the city, introducing amendments and additions to the existing legislation providing for a complete ban on private construction in the mountainous and foothill areas of Almaty and its surroundings, as well as declaring a moratorium on land allocation until the land inventory is completed and relevant normative legal act is adopted,” said Andrei Lukin, Member of the Senate, the Upper House of the Kazakh Parliament.
