All Over the Globe

Hunger strike has ended, but there may be a set-back, � leaders of Ekibastuz Heat Electric Station-2

Gulbanu ABENOVA

ASTANA, July 29

(THE GLOBE)

�At the present time, the hunger strike has ended thanks to the administration�s efforts,� the acting chairman of the board of electric station announced on July 29 in Astana.

Aset Nauryzbaev considers another hunger strike possible. �I think that the set-back is possible,� he said. In his opinion, this problem appeared long ago, because the former administration practically did not work with the personnel, the trade union and did not settle urgent social problems.

It is known that due to the five-month delay of salary, on June 28 sixty-five representatives of the working team of electric station went on a hunger strike. Participants of this action demanded from the administration to fulfil the only thing: to pay 100% of due salary. It was their obligatory condition of their stoppage of the hunger strike.

We remind you that from June 1, 1999 the station had no first head. According to the decree of the Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade, Aset Nauryzbaev was appointed as the acting chairman of the Board from July 16.

Mr. Nauryzbaev announced at the press conference that according to the prepared plan of anti-crisis management, they had concluded a credit agreement with �TuranAlemBank�. The value of the credit is 30 million tenge, and �the interest rate is low enough for such a high-risky project as electric station�

According to the acting chairman, a part of salary was paid to striking workers in cash (15 thousand tenge each). The rest workers (894 persons) will receive the remaining salary later. The debt towards salary is a little more than 2.5 million tenge. �Hunger people are the urgent problem today, the total debt towards salary is 80 to 200 thousand tenge.�

At the present day, the total due salary volume is 97 million tenge. Debit liability is about 2 billion tenge, including more part of enterprises-bankrupts, Mr. Nauryzbaev stated.

According to the acting chairman, the real business-plan for the rest period of this year and salary payment schedule has been worked out. The work with debtors is supposed to be organised in a different way: enterprises may submit foodstuffs (at prices not higher than market ones) as an advance payment for electricity. He mentioned as an example the Akmola REK, which at that day sent a caravan with foodstuff. Workers will not incur any losses, as they will receive their salary in the form of foodstuff, the acting chairman of the Board assured. But, in his opinion, �there will be no 100% cash payments in our country for several years,� nevertheless, the administration of eletric station is going to work hard over the money payments.

The Ekibastuz electric station may produce up to 450 mega Wt of electricity, the cost of which is 1 tenge per 1 kWt/hour.

I removed Nazarbaev�s portrait�

Talk with an intellectual

Aigul MYRZATAI

Almaty, July 28 (THE GLOBE)

�After a long hesitation, I removed your portrait which symbolised my trust to you as the Head of my State� This step is not a sign of my final disappointment with you, as there were delight and disappointment, exultation and pride and offence for you. We could understand the performance in the Parliament devoted to the theme �Corrections and supplementation to the Constitution�, a request to be balloted to the President, as we are mostly people with paternalistic mentality, who always believed you, or, to be more accurately, always acquitted you. The situation is critical: the crisis is becoming more obvious, it is extremely difficult to keep tenge�s rate at the former level, and the production level is still falling. The population is getting poor, hence, the opposition (pensioners and communists) are getting more active, and you should hurry, otherwise anybody else may come to power and unpredictable things may happen (a civil war, etc.). When the performance on nominating the country�s President started, you did what I had never expected you to do � you were frightened.� This letter of Takezhan Shalduarova was published on December 18, 1998, at the eve of the pre-election campaign, when the entire world proclaimed that it was an infringement of the Constitutional election legislation, and in Kazakhstan, a sovereign republic the gates were closed for foreign opinions. Freedom of speech was visually demonstrated in every crossroad of huge Kazakhstan (one theme, but different variants): Nazarbaev and children, Nazarbaev in a miner�s helmet and workers, etc.

Today, when Nursultan Nazarbaev has been re-elected to the President�s post for 7 years, and the law on mass media has been somehow regulated, I want to acquaintance the Reader with that woman who dared to publish the direct letter to her President during �a pink� period of the pre-election campaign, and now decided to reveal her real name. This is a Candidate of Philological Sciences, Senior Lecturer with 20-years experience, a Kazakh woman DANA YUSUPOVNA ALTAIBAEVA. I consider he as a man who is a representative of the word �an intellectual�, which is more and more seldom in our everyday speech. Speaking with me, she was simple, but I feel great intellect and spiritual scope in her words.