The garbage mess in Bishkek has become quite a common sight in recent years for both the residents and newcomers. Sanctioned and unsanctioned landfills are sprouting up like mushrooms after rain. According to the “185” service of the Bishkek mayor’s office, the most frequent complaints from citizens are about garbage: in just one week in September, there were 151 complaints and appeals. It is not for nothing that it is said that any patience can wear thin. Apparently, this is why the “garbage” problem in the capital has increasingly become a topic of discussion in the municipality and the city council. Deputies are quite critical of the management of the municipal enterprise “Tazalyk.”
Despite the mountains of garbage, according to Mayor Kulmatov, the mayor’s office is doing “everything possible to keep the city clean under the outdated and long-overdue replacement of the technical equipment of the Municipal Enterprise ‘Tazalyk’.” Of the 420 units of equipment available to the enterprise, only 100-110 vehicles are operational, and those are being used beyond their normal 1.5-2 times lifespan. The exception is the 25 new machines purchased in 2009: 10 washing machines KO-806 and 15 specialized garbage trucks. However, even this “new” equipment is already breaking down: in the past month, 10 machines had to be repaired. Each month, “Tazalyk” earns about 20 million soms. These funds go to RSK bank, with which it has a contract, where the redistribution of funds occurs automatically: 15% goes to the Social Fund, 15% to the tax office, and 25% to “Gazprom.” Of the remaining 45% of collected funds, the lion’s share goes to salaries, and the leftovers are used to purchase spare parts for the vehicle fleet. This is clearly not enough. The equipment breaks down “in a chain”: if the “engine fails” on one vehicle, another vehicle is then redirected to its route, which must first clear the area assigned to it. The situation is exacerbated by construction debris, which is dumped in large volumes into containers and alongside private individuals beautifying their own apartments and homes, although they are obliged to transport it to the landfill themselves. The mayor’s office has registered cases where whole dump trucks are unloaded at “Tazalyk” landfills. This is where the disruptions come from. As city council member Mirlan Zheenchoroey said, “Tazalyk” does not have a garbage collection schedule. Nevertheless, work is being done. “Within the framework of economic activity, the municipal enterprise ‘Tazalyk’ has removed 913.5 thousand cubic meters of solid household waste to the city landfill over 9 months, with 70-80 units of specialized equipment involved, and there are 6,502 containers available with an additional 700 purchased,” the mayor reported at a recent session of the Bishkek city council.
There are plenty of other problems negatively affecting the proper operation of “Tazalyk”: a shortage of garbage collection containers, unsatisfactory road conditions, and chronic non-payments from the population to “Tazalyk.” As a result, trash is collected only in 18 out of 47 residential areas! “Tazalyk” chief Ryspek Sarpashev candidly stated at a meeting of the budget and finance commission of the city council that “Tazalyk” does not have the funds to carry out daily operations. Moreover, the enterprise’s current debt of 249 million soms to the Social Fund, the tax office, “Gazprom,” and others cannot be repaid given the chronic non-payments from some subscribers. For instance, the new buildings “Archa-Beshik,” “Ak-Orgo,” and “Ala-Too” have owed “Tazalyk” about 5 million soms since 2011. Debtors continue not to pay, even though garbage collection is ongoing there. “We can’t pay off the principal debt because, according to the tax legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, penalties that are calculated daily must be paid first. The penalties for each day amount to about 150 thousand soms! For effective operation, we need to relieve this burden. Otherwise, it creates a vicious circle,” says Ryspek Sarpashev. In response to the question of how the municipality plans to collect debts, Mayor Kubanychbek Kulmatov suggested that the mayor’s office change the system for citizens to pay for garbage removal: “The methodology for garbage removal is extremely complex. We have tied it to the number of residents. Thus, at the level of municipal territorial administrations, there needs to be a clear picture of who and where lives, not just the number of registered residents.” As a result of the absence of a real picture of the residents in the capital, the population currently owes millions of soms for garbage removal. According to Vice Mayor Mars Sakkaraev, only 50% of Bishkek residents pay for garbage collection! This means that garbage removal is practically unprofitable. “Accounting and control are the main sources for improving the existing situation for the better,” says director of the public organization “Tun Akyn” Anara Samaganova, “However, it’s not easy to establish this system if there is no motivation system for the activities of municipal territorial units, neighborhood committees, and homeowners, i.e., the performers in their assigned territory. If previously they received an additional payment of 10%, they are now not interested in identifying real subscribers. If the mayor’s office does not find some new way to solve this issue today, we will all soon feel the consequences: dirt and infectious diseases.” The mayor himself is considering whether it would be more productive to build direct relationships and rely on housing associations and the public. “Ordinary citizens are more concerned about maintaining cleanliness and order in the city than municipal officials: the ‘185’ service has never received a distress signal from the municipal territorial unit regarding garbage, while the phone is ‘smoking’ from endless calls from citizens. Either the municipal territorial units are not operating as they should, in which case we need to replace the staff in the municipal territorial units with more energetic and responsible employees. Or they are useless structures and it makes no sense to maintain them.”
During the recent Bishkek Economic Forum held by NISI and CAFMI, figures were presented: out of 950 thousand people, no more than 500 citizens contribute payment for garbage removal to the budget of Bishkek. And according to statistics, each resident currently produces between 1 and 4 kg of household waste per day! Hence, the solution is unequivocal: we need to improve the subscriber base. “It is very difficult to count on a per capita basis. The mayor’s office often ‘relies’ on the data from district administrations. For garbage removal, we also need to find the most suitable denominator, let’s say, calculate by square meters,” said Kulmatov, “We can also refer to foreign experience, where a certain percentage from payments for electricity is allocated to waste removal companies.” Expert Asylbek Chekirov is also convinced that the payment for garbage removal is meager: “In the city budget, there is an allocation of 20 million soms in taxes each year, but there is no interpretation, and upon closer examination, it turns out that garbage removal costs the citizen only 4 tyiyn!” Perhaps before criticizing the municipal enterprise for the frequent changes in its management (which has already seen four leaders during Kulmatov’s tenure as mayor), and some shortcomings, we should also consider these figures? Chairman of the budget and finance commission of the Bishkek city council Ernis Dokenov suggested including the collection for the removal of solid household waste in the Unified Tax Declaration for individuals. The process of the Unified Tax Declaration itself is a necessary and inevitable step toward a civilized society. The population of Kyrgyzstan must learn to clearly fulfill its tax obligations to the state! According to Asylbek Chekirov, there is a provision in the government that the administration of four types of taxes is directly assigned to city authorities. Ernis Dokenov believes that the leadership of “Tazalyk” needs to stop complaining and change their approach to their work. Thus, legal entities have stopped signing contracts with “Tazalyk,” preferring to turn to private companies. “I honestly and promptly pay 150 soms for the removal of a cubic meter of garbage. But I am tired of waiting for it to be removed,” says entrepreneur Sergey Voronin. “It’s frustrating that the system of garbage collection that has developed over many years is being purposefully destroyed.” According to the mayor’s office, around 10 private companies are currently working in the capital for garbage removal. There are cases when these companies engage in fictitious activities: saving on fuel and failing to deliver solid waste to the landfill, they collect garbage on one street and dump it at night into “Tazalyk” containers on another. Private garbage collection companies are also causing spontaneous dumps to form around garbage containers. To deal with negligent utility workers, “Tazalyk” employees conduct raids, recording the license plates of violators and passing them to the traffic police and financial police. However, the situation is not being resolved. Head of “Tazalyk” Ryspek Sarpashev says: “On one hand, the private companies seemingly have good ‘intelligence,’ and on the other hand, the enterprise does not have the right to impose fines on-site but only collects payments for garbage removal from the violators. Including taxes, this amounts to 170 soms per cubic meter.” According to Mars Sakkaraev, new buildings should switch to self-removal of garbage, while legal entities should return under the wing of “Tazalyk.” And the residents of Bishkek should long understand that to avoid drowning in their own garbage, they need to “start with themselves,” meaning they shouldn’t forget to pay for garbage removal on time. Then the municipality’s budget will also be replenished. Text and photo: Irina Bayramukova
