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This one is pretty much a personal gripe, and not even totally aimed at the authorities/companies in Kazakhstan this time. As you may know, all of the flats in our area have simultaneously had their hot water and heating turned off before. Before Spring has even arrived! The reason was that other residents weren’t paying their bills on time, and so the company involved had apparently run out of money to pay for the diesel that powers boilers.
Other flats in Astana can apparently have the hot water and/or heating turned off individually, however in this area, the company simply shuts it off for everyone. There are different sides to this situation, as the company will point out that without the money, no one will sell them the diesel (surely non-paying of bills isn’t some sort of new situation for them though, were there no plans in place before?), some flat owners don’t live in the flat and so don’t see why they should pay money to heat a flat not used (again, paying bills for a property you own but don’t live in can’t really be a new concept?), but it boils down to plain injustice.

Why should a family with a small baby have no heating to warm the flat, or hot water to wash their child in, because some property speculator thinks buying a new car is more important than paying their debts? When we moved back to Kazakhstan, we had to get a boiler installed, as they had again cut off everyone, so this year we are at least ready prepared. We just need to remember to test it out properly before…

May the 15th will see the heating turned off (not a problem really, as the flat is already getting a little too warm since Spring arrived) and only cold water available from the pipes. (If it goes orange again, that’ll be a double whammy 🙂 ). If we didn’t have the boiler, that would mean putting kettles on just to ensure Anna didn’t have to go to bed without a wash. OK, I have finished venting for now; if any of this series seems like I’m moaning about trivial things, you may be right (on other posts at least), but I guess I just need to let off steam occasionally. Insert your own bad pun here…

Tags: Astana, Kazakhstan

Just a very quick one today. Upon arrival in Kazakhstan (at least in Astana airport), all visitors have to proceed through an x-ray machine, after collecting their luggage, just before they enter the arrivals area, and can hop into a car. However, this section is also useful for telling which foreigners have been to this glorious republic before… Anyone who has spent at least some time over here will often follow the lead of many locals, and simply elect to walk straight past the machines and out the door. Only once has a guy in uniform convinced me that I can not leave until I’ve waited in yet another queue and had my bags checked over again. A couple of times someone will make a small amount of noise, but if you just keep walking and assume they must be talking to someone else, nothing ever happens.
If this was on the way INTO the airport, before departing on a flight, I would be more concerned, and most likely follow the procedure, however, as I’ve most likely been through security checkpoints several times that day, and not about to get onto a plane, but into a private car, I can’t see the point. To have people in uniforms, with machines ready to scan your luggage, which most passengers then blatantly ignore does not do much for the security reassurance that I suppose these machines are there for. They certainly can’t be there as a real method of ensuring nothing dodgy enters the country.

So, airport security when leaving the airport… x-ray machines shouldn’t be voluntary, but thanks anyway…

Tags: Astana, Kazakhstan

It is entirely possible that this post should be titled “Suggestions for the people that specifically look after the water supply to the blocks of flats in our area” rather than “Suggestions For Kazakhstan etc. etc.”, however I do know that people living in other areas of Astana (and certainly more rural areas of Kazakhstan in general) find this subject to be a matter of concern… Put simply, the supply of water needs to be monitored more closely. We don’t give plain tap water to our cats, let alone drink the stuff ourselves. The reason for the water (now less occasionally, admittedly) going orangey/browny is normally that some work is being done with pipes elsewhere in Astana, and that once the pollution has been run through the taps, all will be back to normal. I know of other people living in this city that don’t even brush their teeth in anything other than bottled/boiled water. This makes sense when you think of the ease with which diseases could enter our bloodstream when brushing our gums, however we have not yet decided to go that far. If contractors or maintenance companies (as opposed to some sort of municipal water company) is/are involved, perhaps closer monitoring/regulation is required. Properly enforced oversight or legal ramifications is needed, not just yet another layer of paperwork/stamps/”fines” to be paid. There are some truly revolting theories online as to reasons for the occasional colouring of water that can be observed in Astana, especially from ex-pats/people involved in the industry, but most of these sources were written a few years ago now.
Since we started using a water cooler type setup in our flat (and therefore had some other person deliver huge containers of clean water, rather than transport five litre bottles of water ourselves), I can’t really complain about the physical effort involved to ensure our drinking/cooking/pet/child related H2O needs are met, but when it comes to a shower or bath, I can’t help feeling a little repulsed when the water comes out anything other than clear.
Am I alone in feeling these concerns?

Tags: Astana, Kazakhstan