The lands of the Almaty SuperSki project will not be removed from specially protected natural areas, and the construction of private villas and cottages on this territory is not envisaged. This was stated by Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, Chief Executive Officer of Kazakh Tourism Development, according to infohub.kz.
According to him, the current project is fundamentally different from the initiative of a decade ago, which caused serious discontent among Almaty residents and was ultimately canceled.
"People were annoyed by three things 10 years ago. First, the land was removed from the national park and transferred to the balance sheet of an LLP. Second, the project envisaged the construction of a large number of private villas. And third, there was a serious question that the gorge would be fenced off and the public would no longer have access to it," noted Yerzhan Yerkinbayev.
Today, the speaker emphasized, all three causes of public concern have been eliminated. The land remains part of a specially protected natural area and will not be transferred to anyone's balance sheet.
"Regarding villas, we have secured in all documents that there will be no private cottages or villas on the territory. And no one is going to fence off the ski resort," stated the Chief Executive Officer of Kazakh Tourism Development.
According to Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, interaction with the national park will be carried out on the basis of a joint activity agreement. The development of the territory envisages the creation of necessary infrastructure, including transport and tourism, as well as healthcare and education facilities.
He also noted that the possibility of removing lands from specially protected natural areas for the construction of tourist facilities is not currently provided for by law.