President of Kazakhstan holds the Final Meeting of the State Commission on the State of Emergency
Under the chairmanship of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the Final Meeting of the State Commission on the State of Emergency was held, which was attended by akims (Mayors) of regions and cities of national importance, as well as heads of state agencies and law enforcement structures via video link.
In his speech, the Head of State noted that the state of emergency ended on May 11, but the virus still poses a threat. Therefore, quarantine restrictions in the regions will be lifted depending on the improvement of the situation.
Special attention was paid to the issues of social support of citizens.
- On my instructions, two packages of anti-crisis measures are being implemented in the country. More than 4.5 million people have received financial assistance in the amount of 42 500 tenge (€93). Food and household items are being distributed to more than 1 million people. Utility rates have been reduced. Those who are most in need will receive extra help to pay for it. Loan repayment deadlines of approximately 2 million people have been postponed, - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The President outlined the order of priorities in the conditions of the crisis and post-crisis development: protection of health of all Kazakhstani people, support of income of citizens, support and development of business, improvement of education and science.
According to the President, special attention should be paid to ensuring food security. Besides, the construction of affordable housing should be a strong incentive for economic development, employment growth and social support.
- To solve the waiting list issues, I instruct to launch a new project on providing credit housing in the form of “5-10-20”. We will allocate 390 billion tenge (€857 mln) for these purposes, within the framework of the anti-crisis funds.This year, record volumes of construction are planned in the country – 15 million square meters, or 150 000 apartments and houses.
In addition, the Head of State instructed to complete by July 1st the work on previously given instruction to enable citizens to use part of their pension savings for the purpose of improving housing conditions.
The renewal of the public administration system was identified as one of the most important area of work.
- As a currently well-established innovation, I propose to conduct meetings and sessions of the Government, ministries, and governors’ offices in this remote format as much as possible. Unnecessary procedures, approvals, meetings, waste of time and money should be eliminated. This practice has become obsolete. It is necessary to rethink the essence of the concept of e-government, fully crate an online system for obtaining consultations, certificates, submitting applications, and make the “egov” language simple and understandable for the population.
The full text of the President's speech at the State Commission meeting is available here.