At a press conference on the results of regional visits for the implementation of Elbasy’s social measures “Aleumettik Qamqorlyq,” Chairman of the Committee for Construction, Housing and Communal Services of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development Markhabat Zhayymbetov told about the construction of preferential housing for large families and supply of drinking water to rural settlements.

As Zhayymbetov recalled, today there are 340 thousand large families in the country, of which more than 31 thousand are registered in akimats as needing housing. In May at the expense of all sources it is planned to provide housing for 1,316 large families, 249 of which were issued May 1.

In general, for these purposes in the next 7 years it is planned to allocate an additional 50 billion tenge annually. The total amount of funding will be 350 billion tenge.

“Specifically, 7,145 apartments will be built in 2019. In terms of regions, the largest amount is given in the Turkestan, Almaty, Kyzylorda regions and in the city of Nur-Sultan,” he informed.

Meanwhile, as an additional measure, concessional lending through Housing Construction Savings Bank is introduced at 2% per annum, for a period of up to 19 years, with an initial contribution of 10%. Part of the down payment may be covered by the Akimat at the expense of the housing certificate, the list of recipients is approved by the decision of the maslikhat.

As an additional measure for those who do not want to wait, funds are allocated for concessional lending. According to this scheme, large families, single-parent families and families with disabled children with low incomes can purchase their own housing. Each year, the republican budget provides for 50 billion tenge each; in total, 150 billion tenge will be required for the implementation of this mechanism. In 25 years, about 56 thousand families will be able to receive soft loans.

“For example: if a family gets 8 million tenge, then the first 8 years they can pay 42 thousand tenge each, the next 11 years 27 thousand tenge each. It is quite elevating, who rents apartments,” Zhayymbetov noted.

In the matter of providing water to rural settlements, he reported that 100 billion tenge was allocated from the republican budget annually.

“From this year 140 billion tenge will be allocated additionally. As a result, in 2025 it is possible to achieve 100% coverage with centralized water supply and 90% coverage of wastewater treatment,” he said.

Today, out of 10.6 million urban residents, 94.5% or 10 million people are provided with centralized drinking water. Of the 7.7 million people in the rural areas, 84.4% or 6.5 million people are provided with drinking water. Of the 6,499 rural settlements, 3,892, or 59.9%, have drinking water.

In addition, to solve the problems of the outskirts of the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, an annual allocation of 30 billion tenge is provided for three years, or only 90 billion tenge over 3 years. The main priority projects are water supply, water disposal, heat supply and roads.

Zhayymbetov also reported that 150 billion tenge is allocated annually for the expansion of the local road network. At the same time, it is additionally provided for the allocation of 50 billion tenge over 7 years, or a total of 350 billion tenge.

“This means that 200 billion tenge will be allocated annually on a parity basis. As a result, by 2025 the share of high-quality roads will increase to 95%, 5 thousand km of local roads will be repaired,” he added.