Monitoring of resettled communities

Since resettlement of the first residents from Berezovka and Bestau villages to Araltal micro district and apartment buildings in Aksai at the end of 2017, KPO has been annually monitoring the livelihood restoration of the resettled families.

As part of the above monitoring, in the period 2018 — 2022, KPO carried out the following activities for residents resettled in apartment buildings in Aksai, including Araltal, where 100 detached houses were built:

• 2018 — 2019 — residents of 100 houses in Araltal were provided with 11,600 tons of top soil for the cultivation of household plots;
• 2018 — 2021 — 800 appeals and requests of resettled residents were registered in the KPO Community Feedback Log. All issues were resolved by the end of 2021.
• 2019 — KPO assisted in complete reconstruction and relocation of the Monument to the Soldier of the Great Patriotic War from the former Berezovka village to Araltal;
• 2020 — during the COVID-19 pandemic, in cooperation with the Burlinsky District’s Akimat and the Aksai town’s Akim, KPO organized the delivery of food and essential goods on a mobile shop for residents of 100 houses in Araltal;

• In May, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the monitoring KPO Community Relations team undertook an informal survey of resettled households by phone. 226 households in Apartment Blocks 24 and 25 in microregion 10 of Aksai and 70 households in Araltal participated in the survey. The set of questions asked to residents included improvements, if any, since resettlement, employment/pensions, livelihoods, availability of KPO for contacts, and other. The residents requested that KPO provide support in moving the memorial to WW2 Soldier from the former Berezovka Village to Aksai, in installing a drainage system around the school and 100 houses built in Araltal and greening of the territory of Apartment blocks 24 and 25 in Aksai.

• 2020 — with assistance of Akim of the Aksai town of Burlin district, KPO delivered 150 tree saplings for landscaping the yard area of multi-storey buildings in 5 and 10 microdistricts in the Aksai, where resettled residents live;
• 2020 — 2021 — expiration of the warranty period for two apartment buildings in 10 microdistrict of Aksai, 100 detached houses in the Araltal microdistrict of Aksai, a school for 300 children in Araltal and a kindergarten for 320 children in 10 microdistrict of Aksai of Burlin district, built for the resettled residents of the former Berezovka and Bestau villages.
• 2022 — drainage system installation around a school and 100 houses in Araltal village was completed; a tender was held to select a contractor to develop Detailed Engineering Design (DED) for the Demolition and Land Reclamation Project of the resettled Berezovka and Bestau villages. We will inform readers about the implementation of this project in the next Sustainability Report.
• 2023 — KPO arranged a Commission visit to the territory of the resettled Berezovka and Bestau villages for visual inspection of the remaining facilities subject to demolition and post-utilization. The Commission comprised of local executive authorities of the Burlin District, the project engineering organization that developed the Detailed Engineering Design documentation, KPO and local residents. During the meetings, the Commission members informed the local organizations and residents about the upcoming project activities on post-utilization and land reclamation.

Overall, KPO’s cooperation with local communities of Burlin District during implementation of various projects helps minimize the potential social and environmental risks associated with the Company’s activities at the Karachaganak Field.

Socially vulnerable community members, who moved to Aksai and Araltal, are in particular focus of attention in KPO’s monitoring process. KPO Community Liaison Officer visits the elderly residents living alone in order to provide assistance in resolving their issues.

KPO has deployed 18 Environmental Monitoring Stations (EMS) across the Karachaganak Field and around the Sanitary Protection Zone and two truck-mounted mobile EMS. Please see more about KPO’s air quality monitoring in the «Environmental monitoring» section.

Public hearings for demolition and land reclamation project ^{GRI 2-29, SDG 16.10}

In 2023, jointly with the project engineering organization AksaiGasService and KPO, the Burlin District Akimat held public hearings on the project for the post-utilization and reclamation of lands of the resettled Berezovka and Bestau villages. Representatives of the public, farms, and local residents took part at the hearings.

At the public hearings, representatives of the contracted project engineering organization briefed the participants about the activities to be performed including the project plan. Representatives of the farms had the opportunity to ask questions to the Project Owner regarding the timeline of the project, waste transportation, restrictions and rules the Sanitary Protection Zone.

The project was approved for action at the hearings.