Employees of the environmental services of Kazakhstan will receive a 100% bonus to their official salary from July 1, the press service of Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov reports. It is specified that the relevant government decree was adopted as part of the execution of the instructions of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to improve the working conditions of specialists involved in nature protection. The document provides for the establishment of additional payments for work associated with a risk to life. This will affect employees of organizations for the protection of wildlife, the protection and reproduction of forests, the state forest protection service and others. The average salary of foresters and other specialists will be from 101,000 ($227) to 320,000 tenge ($720), depending on the position and length of service. The increase in wages will affect 12,876 employees, the PM’s press service noted. Strong forest fires are observed every spring and summer in Kazakhstan, and it is often the foresters who are the first to fight the fires. Forest fire occurred in Abai region on June 8. Due to the delay on the part of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and an incorrect forecast in the direction of the fire spread, flames soon covered more than 60,000 hectares. The lack of equipment at the forestry was revealed during extinguishing the fires. Many foresters came in their own cars, using improvised means. 14 employees of the Semey Ormany state nature reserve died in Abai region within a few days. It was reported later about the death of another local tractor driver, who was trying to help representatives of environmental services.
Source: Central Asian News Services (CANS)