Astana authorities were better prepared for winter, while Almaty region faced a utility collapse

DEMOSCOPE Bureau for Express Monitoring of Public Opinion conducted a public opinion poll to find out what people of Kazakhstan think about abnormal cold weather in Kazakhstan and work of municipal services. 
1,848 respondents from Astana, Almaty and 14 regional centers of Kazakhstan took part in the poll, with 71% women and 29% men aged over 16 years old being interviewed. The maximum statistical error with 95% possibility does not exceed 1.22%.

The respondents were interviewed by phone from 13 to 19 February 2018.

In January, due to the Arctic anticyclone a storm warning was announced in most of the country. In some regions, there were periodic emergencies. Finally, the winter has come to its end and now it is time to sum it up. The poll held by Demoscope Bureau for Monitoring of Public Opinion showed in which regions the authorities and municipal services worked most effectively.

According to the poll results, 76% of Kazakhstan people felt relatively comfortable despite experiencing abnormal cold weather, although in their houses the temperature was above 18 degrees. Only 21% of our fellow citizens had temperature below normal in the apartments. 3% of Kazakhstan people were unlucky, because in January there was a central heating breakdown and the system was turned off.
In general, Astana is a leading region in terms of comfortable living conditions. 93% of the respondents answered they had comfortable temperature in their apartments this winter.
The residents of the Almaty region are those who mostly suffered from frosts and incompetence of local authorities. In the homes of 59% of the respondents, the radiators were slightly warm.
6% of the Zhambyl oblast residents suffered from central heating shutdown as well.
Regarding the situation with interruptions in heat supply, the highest percentage was recorded in the Atyrau oblast (16%). In general, countrywide this indicator is much lower (6%).

During the abnormal cold weather, 41% of the residents of the Almaty region have their water supply lines frozen. In general, 10% of the respondents throughout the country faced the similar problem.

The citizens of the capital avoided trouble situations with utilities. 85% of the respondents noted that all vitally important supply networks and lines worked properly. The poll results also showed that 69% of the population countrywide feel the same.
Within the poll, the respondents were also asked to evaluate the work of local municipal services.
The interesting thing is that in Mangistau region the interviewees showed a high level of trust in municipal services (75%). In Astana and North Kazakhstan regions, the feedback was also positive (74% in each). In general, countrywide this figure is 62%.

On the contrary, 35% of the respondents in Almaty region expressed completely opposite opinion. The poll results revealed that the municipal services were totally careless. To compare, throughout the country only 10% answered the same.

This winter there was a lot of precipitation. The results of the survey vividly demonstrated in which regions the municipal services timely cleaned the snow.

In Astana they acted better than others, which was noted by 75% of the local respondents. And only 55% of interviewees agree with them.

67% of the respondents in Almaty and Atyrau regions said they cleaned the snow by themselves. In general, 29% failed to see snow removal machines.

16% of our fellow citizens were lucky to have their snow cleaned away, though with great delay.

We would like to mention how the municipal services were prepared to respond to emergency. It turned out that alarm dispatchers in Astana and North Kazakhstan regions were the fastest to answer the calls (with 78% and 76% respectively).

The opposite situation was observed in Almaty region. Here 30% of the respondents answered that in case of emergency it was quite difficult to call the competent services.

Within the poll, the respondents were also offered to evaluate the level of authorities readiness for emergencies related to extreme cold. The majority of interviewees (63%) believe that local authorities are well prepared for winter.

And only 12% noted that the authorities did not take measures to prepare central heating systems for winter.

It was no surprise that the capital was a leader among all regions. 75% of Astana residents said that the local authorities were fully prepared for the upcoming cold weather. They were followed by Atyrau (74%) and Aktobe (73%) regions.

According to the poll, the authorities of Almaty oblast were not ready for cold weather. 37% of respondents from the most affected area felt the same way.

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