This summer, residents and visitors of Atyrau may have to make do with just one city beach, reports infohub.kz.
The city owns seven beaches. The budget allocated 91 million tenge (105 million including VAT) for their seasonal preparation. Three beaches were slated for improvement: 'Malibu' in Zhilgorodok, as well as those in the Geolog and Balykchy microdistricts. The public association 'Qamqor Dayren' won the tender. However, the emergency situations department refused to allow the Geolog beach for safety reasons, and local residents opposed the development of the 'Balykchy' beach. Consequently, authorities decided to equip the 'Tubek' beach in the Kokarna microdistrict, where work is now underway.
There are also official beaches outside the city — in the Almaly, Yerkinkaly, Atyrau, and Kaiyrshakhty rural districts.
Thus, across all of Atyrau, only one beach is open: 'Malibu,' which opened on July 3 and has already faced criticism. Here is one of the many comments on social media: 'There's no room to move. For so many visitors, there are only two canopies, two showers, and very few loungers. The water is dirty, so the experience turned out to be nothing like expected. And what a grand name...' Some residents are more forgiving: 'Let it look like a kiddie pool. At least we have that.'
According to the city administration, 31 million tenge (including VAT) was spent on developing 'Malibu.'