Yesterday in the mayor’s office passions boiled until late in the evening. Bishkek residents came to a rendezvous with the mayor to get a ban on the construction of three sports fields. The mayor did not come out to a spontaneous picket, vice-mayor Nurdan Oruntaev met with people. “There will be no construction,” he assured. “We do not believe!” – retorted the townspeople.
Representatives of the sixth microdistrict and Asanbay, as well as residents of a high-rise building, popularly called Baychechekey, attended a rally in front of the city hall. Three locations – one common problem: construction companies plan to build elite residential buildings on sports grounds near residential buildings.
People have been fighting for several months now with construction companies claiming land plots intended for local sports and recreation areas. Residents organize general meetings, write letters to the appropriate authorities, but, at best, receive answers that they do not know how to interpret.
Tired of the vague answers of officials, the activists decided to talk personally with the head of the city administration and achieve a lifelong moratorium on the construction of elites on children’s and sports grounds. They have every right to demand this – according to urban planning standards, each residential quarter should have a sports and recreation infrastructure.
Policemen forbade people to hold a rally in front of the mayor’s office, they behaved correctly in front of the cameras, tried to explain that a place was determined for protests in Gorky Park, but even there such events must be coordinated with the municipality. But those present were not ready to leave without talking to Mayor Emilbek Abdykadyrov, especially since they had notified in writing the day before that they intended to come to him, explaining the purpose of the collective visit.
The head of the city administration at that time held a collegium with the deputies of the city kenesh, therefore he delegated the vice-mayor for municipal property and land use Nurdan Oruntaev to the people. And he took it and invited everyone, without exception, to continue the dialogue in his office. Fifteen square meters might hardly accommodate everyone who came to the rally: the elderly sat, the young stood shoulder to shoulder. The atmosphere of solidarity of the passengers of the minibus at rush hour was in the air, even the open window did not save. The vice-mayor, in the literal sense, approached the people as close as possible and with dignity withstood a flurry of justified criticism once morest the mayor’s office.
Nurdan Oruntaev assured the audience that they had come to the right place. He is in charge of these matters. And it was on his instructions that high-profile court cases have been launched on illegal construction in several parts of the city. He assured the audience that in the sixth microdistrict and “Asanbay” high-rise buildings on sports grounds would not “grow”!
– I give the word of an officer – there will be no construction! – Oruntaev assured. But the activists, “overfed” by such promises of officials, demanded a written guarantee letter. And they got it! For the first time in many years, the vice mayor was not afraid to give a written commitment containing such a serious statement. He also openly admitted that the owner of one of the construction companies that “had their eye” on the sports grounds is a BMC deputy. Then the audience offered to go right now to the hall to the mayor and the deputies and clarify the situation at once.
– We invited her today, but she might not come because she is abroad, – Oruntaev explained.
Then the events developed quickly and constructively: the vice-mayor issued a letter of guarantee to the activists of the sixth microdistrict and Asanbai, and went to the place with the residents of Baichechekey to sort out the situation in detail.
In order to formalize the execution of the letter of guarantee by a protocol order, the vice-mayor invited the activists to an extended meeting at six in the evening. It brought together representatives of all departments responsible for legal and documentary support of any construction in the capital. Together they developed a plan of measures that would allow the situation to be rewound. In particular, to revoke previously issued permits, cancel the change in the purpose of land plots, oblige developers to restore order in the territories where they have already managed to dismantle sports grounds.
We will closely monitor the situation, because now an important precedent is being created: the mayor’s office is ready to conduct a constructive dialogue with the townspeople. And most importantly, they promise to fulfill their simple and important demand, written on the posters: “Stop building us up, it’s time to improve!”
