ASTANA – The Kazakh government allocated 28.2 billion tenge ($57 million) from recovered illegally acquired assets to complete the construction of a hospital complex initiated in 2021 in the East Kazakhstan Region’s Ridder town.
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“A multidisciplinary hospital complex with a 200-bed hospital and a polyclinic for 500 visits per shift cost 34.8 billion tenge (US$70.4 million). To date, 6.6 billion tenge (US$13.3 million) has been spent, with 2 billion tenge (US$4 million) coming from the state budget and 4.6 billion tenge (US$9.3 million) from the local budget. The remaining funds will be allocated from the country’s special state fund,” reported the Prime Minister’s press service on Nov. 20.
The opening of the hospital complex is significant for a single-industry town with a large population. Almost 55,000 people live in Ridder, 22.7% of whom are over 60 years old. The sole hospital complex, which consists of 12 buildings spread around the town, was constructed more than 80 years ago. The facilities are outdated and do not meet modern requirements. Also, extra beds in cardiology, stroke, trauma, and burn units are required to give emergency medical treatment to the community.
The new hospital, which will cover 40,000 square meters, will be equipped with cutting-edge medical technology and will employ over 500 people.
Previously, the funds were allocated to build a kindergarten for children with special needs in Aktobe, a sports complex in the Zerenda village in the Akmola Region, a music school in the Temirlan village in the Turkistan Region, a sports complex for gifted children-athletes in Arkalyk, a rehabilitation center for children with musculoskeletal disorders in Astana, and a training center for people with special needs in Almaty.
