Cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Koksu River: do we need large-scale protests?
Last week, akim of the region Zhetysu Beibit Isabayev at one of the meetings with the public of the region answered the question of civil activist Olzhas Ibraimov about the future fate of the Koksu River. The public figure asked the head of the region for his opinion about the insistent demands of the defenders of the river to stop the construction of cascades of hydroelectric power stations there.
Judging by Mr. Isabaev’s answer, he knows about everything, but, in his opinion, the eco-activists are somehow too quiet and modest. Beibit Isabaev mentioned that if the protests had been more large-scale and persistent, then the reaction of the authorities would have been different.
— If the locals tell us to stop, we will stop. This is not a matter of principle for us. So far, only athletes are outraged,” Beibit Isabayev said at the meeting.
In unison with the speeches of the head of the region at the same time, some official and unofficial sources distributed a video with a small group of people on the Internet. In the footage, an elder in a papakha attacks those who defend the Koksa River, accusing them of mercenary purposes and allegedly pursuing their personal gain. At the same time, the pensioner calls rafting athletes catamarans.
The head of the Rivers Without Boundaries public foundation, Alexander Kolotov, informed us that the day before they received a response to their appeal from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and were very surprised.
— It turns out that today rafting is not recognized as a sport on the territory of Kazakhstan and there is no accredited Republican sports federation for the development of rafting, — says Alexander Kolotov.
Last week, on February 18, a group of defenders of the Koksu River in Almaty held a press conference demanding to study the situation around the construction of a hydroelectric power station. Civil activists and scientists have prepared an open letter addressed to the akim of the Kerbulak district of the Zhetysu region with a request to provide complete and reliable design documentation for the construction.
Earlier, the Green Solidarity public association had already sent a letter to the governor of the region, Beibit Isabayev, with a request to organize a scientific examination with the involvement of narrow specialists, but received a response not from Isabayev, but from the Department of Natural Resources, and with a refusal.
— According to the logic of Isabaev, the fate of the Koksu River should be decided by a handful of residents from the village of Rudnichny who do not have all the information, do not understand ecology and do not have scientific knowledge. What kind of incompetent akim is this who openly hints at organizing large-scale protests?
If we are building a hearing state where law and order should reign, then first of all the authorities should approach the resolution of controversial issues from a professional position, and not incite society to inappropriate actions,” believes Aidar Khadzhimuratov, deputy head of the NGO Green Solidarity.
According to the plan of the hydropower industry of Kazakhstan for 2020-2030, approved by Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, nine hydroelectric power stations should be built on the Koksu River. At the same time, the length of the mountain river is only 206 km, and today there is not a single scientific examination that would answer the question – how can nine hydroelectric power stations affect the state of the river?
Aliya Akhmedieva (Ratel.kz )
