Abylkair Skakov: We must listen and hear

Akim of Pavlodar region urged fellow countrymen to share their proposals and ideas for further development of the region. On the air of the Ertis TV channel, he told how the region survived the state of emergency, who will control the prices of essential goods, and why restructuring is needed in working with youth.

Answering interviewers' questions, Abylkair Skakov recalled that the state of emergency throughout the republic was introduced for the second time in the history of the country. But if in 2020 the epidemiological situation required it, then at the beginning of this year, the primary reason for drastic measures was to preserve the safety of Kazakhstanis.

An operational headquarters was deployed in the Pavlodar region, which included representatives of all state and law enforcement agencies, the akim emphasized. - A single contact center 109 worked around the clock and our task was to provide answers to all questions from residents. In general, public transport in the region functioned, all social facilities and government agencies worked as usual.

The guest of the studio of the Ertis TV channel noted that after the lifting of the state of emergency in the region, special attention is paid to work to contain prices for essential goods. The stabilization fund at the social and entrepreneurial corporation "Pavlodar" is currently operating in the mode of a wholesale warehouse. Food at reduced prices goes to social stores and large retail chains. And now the task is to monitor compliance with the established marginal prices.

I hope that public control will help us in this, - Abylkair Skakov said. - Today, people pay in stores using a smartphone. On the same smartphone, they can take pictures of inflated price tags and pass this information on to the helpline. A special commission will go to the site, conduct an inspection and give feedback.

By the same principle, the region intends to control the marginal cost of fuels and lubricants and tariffs for utilities. Recall that in early January, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced a 180-day moratorium on increases in these positions. It must be said that in Pavlodar region they went a little further and agreed with local coal mining companies to maintain coal prices at the level of last year. Freight carriers who deliver solid fuel to settlements have also pledged not to increase the cost of their services.

Most of those who came to the central square of Pavlodar are young people, - the head of the region recalled the recent events. - This suggests that we

need to restructure work with youth. Today, there are youth resource centers in every city and district, but they do not do what is really needed. We need to establish a direct relationship with every young person, form his social passport. We need to know what young people do when they leave school, college or university. Do they join the army? Do they find a job? There is such an indicator as NEET - this is the proportion of young people who do not study, do not work and do not improve their skills. So, in some of our districts this indicator is zero, which is very unlikely. Therefore, we need to conduct a qualitative audit in this direction.

Abylkair Skakov said that he would demand from his subordinates to work more actively with other categories of the population. On the eve of the annual reporting meetings, the oblast akim has already instructed that not a single inhabitant of a particular settlement be left out of the zone of vision of local leaders.

We must listen and hear, and society will give an assessment of the work of akims, - summed up the head of the region. - Based on the results of each reporting meeting, the regional akim's office will receive information to analyze what decisions are made on the ground and whether local leaders are able to solve specific problems of the population. In which case, specialists at the regional level will be involved in this work.

At the end of the dialogue, Abylkair Skakov noted that today the regional leadership is developing an action program for 2022. In this document, we intend to provide solutions to all problematic issues raised by the population of Pavlodar region. The head of the region urged fellow countrymen to share their ideas on the further development of the region. He stressed that they will try to take into account all the proposals received and, if they are relevant, include them in the program.

Press service of the akim of Pavlodar region