About sheriff, paid parking, building for police and Italian speed boat

By Murat Sultangaliev

On January 8 the session of Atyrau regional maslikhat (local representative body) took place.

HOW WAS THE YEAR AND WHAT PEOPLE DEMANDED

There was only one issue on the agenda: the deputies were supposed to approve the candidacy proposed by the regional government to the position of the chief of local police Nourym Urazbaev (on photo), whose previous position was the deputy chief of the regional police department.

- All local police inspectors, road patrol service, inspectorate for affairs of minors, specialized institutions, in a word, all police services that are supported by the local budget will report to Urazbaev. There are 1 173 officers in the personnel pool of local police, - reported Arman Dzhalmoukhanbetov, the chief of regional police.

The deputies voted unanimously.

Then the regional Governor Baktykozha Izmukhambetov took the floor:

- 2015 was quite a good year. The regional budget was utilized for 99,8%. On this indicator the region came 4^th in the country, before that we were the 1st. In December we launched “Caspi Lana Atyrau" wool processing plant. In the second half of January the plant will start workring to its full capacity. Near "Saltanat Saraiy" the monument to Zhumeken Nazhimedenov - our fellow countryman, the poet and the author of the anthem of Kazakhstan has been erected. In the residential district Nursaya the municipal market "Saraishyk" was opened. Prices there are lower than in other markets, the local products are sold without intermediaries. We produce and sell over 40 types of products there.

- A few people asked me a question why they charge 50 tenge for parking at the municipal market? The matter is that "Saraishyk" municipal market is self-financed, we don't invest there, and the market administration has to support security, cleaners, pay for electricity, etc. I would ask you, Arman Kenesovich (Dzhalmukhanbetov), to install the sign "No parking" near the market. The street is narrow, next year we are planning to make it twice bigger. But today its width doesn't allow the drivers to park on a roadside. It causes traffic jams.

As for the provision of housing. Citizens continuously send letters to the president of the country, the prime minister, the deputies, to the speaker of the parliament with requests to put pressure on me so that I give out apartments to them. I repeat once again: I am the head of the region and I don't give out apartments. Apartments are provided by the Mayor and district governors in the order established by the law. It doesn't matter whom you write your letters to, you will not get apartments by improper means!

In the coming year a lot of work on asphalting of streets of Atyrau and suburbs is planned. The volume of budget allocations for this program makes 4,5 billion tenge.

On the New Year the city was left under the snow. I don't know where the citizens got my phone number. They called me during the night asking a question – when this or that street will be cleared of snow? One woman was very angry and said that we are sitting up there and don't worry about anything! Currently there are 81 units of special vehicles cleaning the streets of Atyrau. Ozhaev (Atyrau Mayor), how many did you say? You see, there are already 100 vehicles cleaning the snow. We will attract the equipment of oil companies too.

I visited Tomarly district and there snowdrifts between the houses are 1 and a half meter high. When it thaws, there will be floods. We need to mobilize all forces...

“I HOPE TO GOD THAT THE YEAR 2012 WILL NOT BE REPEATED"

Then the head of the region in details commented on our recent publication "Police headquarter hasn't been built, but you can sail a million dollar Italian boat …"

- On “Ak Zhaik" newspaper website they wrote that I reported at the briefing that crime-solving rate in our oil region is as high as 97% and this is a record indicator. Nothing of the sort! I can say with full responsibility that solving rate of serious crimes made not 97%, but 100%! I specially was interested in this indicator. So it not the record, it is more than a record.

Further there was an issue raised that the local government allocated money for some suspicious building. I couldn't disclose this, because there is an established order. Yes, this building is constructed for the police - for special purpose. In the nearest future the local police will receive this building and will use it for a special purpose. I cannot say more than this. I was tasked to do it, and I had to carry out my task. Here they write - why they don't provide answers? And why should I provide answers? Perhaps they will ask about the work of KNB (National Security Committee)? When they come, what they are engaged in?

Then they write why we bought such an expensive boat? And that we could have bought with that money several boats from the shipbuilding plant in Uralsk. “Sandyrak" (“nonsense" – in Kazak - translator), let me tell you. If they don't know, they should better ask. The prices of these boats are comparable. They are almost identical. But the Uralsk boats, although they are locally produced, and we have nothing against our domestic product… but we needed this high-speed boat, therefore we bought it.

For those who don't know, from this boat they fired at the Makhachkala boat when they refused to stop. One person was wounded. Then the Russian Foreign Ministry was engaged in lengthy talks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

When I arrived to Atyrau in 2012, poachers from Makhachkala were not only in our territorial sea waters, but they were even fishing in the Ural River (by the way, “Ak Zhaik" wrote about that several times even before changing of Governors and provided photofacts from the pier in Balykshi village). But now this sort of crime - solving rate has been improved and our neighbors don't come into our waters, thanks to our frontier guards and the use of this boat. One such boat is not enough, and most likely, if there is an opportunity, we will buy another one, exactly the same type. We need it.

There were talks that they spotted kilometer-long poacher's nets... Who from law enforcement agency can comment on this?

A. Dzhalmukhanbetov: Last year the organized criminal group of poachers was detained and they were brought to trial. In the sea about two-three kilometers of networks have been confiscated from them. Thereby the first illegal organized criminal group in Kazakhstan has been revealed and liquidated... I was interested in the cost of the boats. The difference in price offers of the Uralsk and Italian boats makes 10 million tenge. The difference is big because the Italian boat builds up speed very quickly.

Rumours that this boat was purchased for sailing purposes of the police management is a complete nonsense. It is not meant for tours. These boats are in operational service with Germany, France and other countries. And do you know what type of boats our water police use? The boats with one outboard motor. Therefore they have no chances to catch up not just a baida - poacher sea boat, but even a regular poacher boat with two outboard motors. I was tasked to get one of the best boats by means of which we could eradicate this problem. We searched websites, contacted sellers, purchased the boat and delivered it here. Thanks to this boat we confiscated dozens of poacher boats. Now there is a question: why we have only one such boat, when we need two and even three of them...

B. Izmukhambetov: At the teleconference meeting I was reprimanded by one of the heads of the country that in our region we don't allocate enough funds for the support of police. Aktobe and Almaty regions, for example, annually allocate 10-12 billion tenge. And we allocate much less than that. And here I am reproached that I allocate to police too many funds... We equip the police not because we have extra money, but because we need the police. We wouldn't start to equip the police of Atyrau if we hadn't so much disorder and illegal actions here. I hope to God that the year 2012 will not be repeated. You don't know everything...

Governor' deputy Timurzhan Shakimov, who supervises construction, jumped into the speech:

- The article says that this house costs 6 billion tenge (for comparison the quote from article: "According to our information, 6 billion tenge were allocated from the budget for the construction of a new police headquarters and apartments for police officers."). It isn't so.

It costs 10 times less. As for the construction of the complex for the Internal Police Department, then according to design estimates it will cost 5,7 billion tenge. The land for this complex has been allocated in the same place, in Nursaya. As soon as funds are allocated, we will start the construction activites.