Pilot program of large scale housing maintenance privatization in the city of Almaty : description and documents -- Kazakhstan

In response, Almaty undertook a massive building program, which was halted with the fall of communism in 1991. Subsequent reforms included privatization of the Republic"s housing stock and housing management and maintenance activities. By the summer of 1994, 70% of the housing in Almaty had been privatized. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA), under contract with A.I.D., has worked with the Republic and the city of Almaty since 11/92 to develop a pilot program to provide better quality, low-cost, private maintenance services through a publicly advertised, open bidding process. The pilot program received a significant boost when Kazakhstan provided a 1,000,000-tenge grant to help fund the five-month demonstration. Months of meetings, training sessions, and intergovernmental negotiations culminated in an historic first for Kazakhstan when on July 18, 1994, the city of Almaty awarded the first private maintenance contract to a local contractor. This paper describes the key events and measures taken to inform, educate, and train government officials, local business people, and residents in the many details and steps that must be created and implemented in order to accomplish a first-ever public solicitation and private contract award within Kazakhstan. The paper is a frank discussion of the problems and successes in introducing new methods and procedures in an environment that often is distrustful of programs that promise improved living conditions, and bureaucrats hostile to changes that eventually will eliminate their jobs. The lessons learned and the materials developed under the pilot program will be of value to the privatization of housing and the introduction of procedures to encourage the development of a private construction/maintenance industry. (Author abstract, modified)