Kazakhstan proposes to reevaluate the criteria for assessing the quality of its roadways.

“According to the Ministry of Transport, 87% of local roads are in satisfactory condition. However, only 31 thousand kilometers, or 44% of local roads, have asphalt concrete surfaces. The remaining 39 thousand kilometers, or 56% of local roads, consist of gravel, crushed stone, and dirt surfaces. In this regard, we believe it is necessary to reconsider the criteria for assessing the quality of roads by excluding gravel, crushed stone, and dirt roads from those classified as being in satisfactory condition. As a result, we will obtain a true picture of the state of local roads,” said Nurtai Sabilyanov during a governmental hour in the Mazhilis on the development of the country’s transport and logistics potential.

He also reminded that the national operator of the road network is JSC NC “KazAvtoZhol,” which is 100% state-owned and possesses two functions: namely, the construction and monitoring of the process and quality of road construction, reconstruction, repair, and maintenance.

“It turns out that they build and control themselves. A similar situation arises with the National Center for Road Asset Quality, which conducts departmental expertise of projects, provides recommendations for construction, and identifies shortcomings in the work of contracting organizations. This leads to a conflict of interest, which is unacceptable when implementing the strategic tasks of the state. Furthermore, the local technical supervision services are noted to be underperforming. The quality of their work raises significant concerns, and the functions of technical supervision are carried out formally,” explained the Mazhilis member.