BBC News Online: Despatches

Goodbye Almaty, Hello Akmola

Monica Whitlock is in Almaty for its last days as the capital of Kazakhstan.

The ministries in the old capital Almaty - known as Alma Ata during the Soviet era - are starting to wind down and the first officials are on their way to the new seat of government, more than 1,000 kilometres north across the Kazakh steppe.

Large cardboard boxes stand in what were the corridors of power as the first ministries pack up their papers.

Between Saturday and Tuesday relays of trains are setting off from the grand marble halls of Almaty railway station carrying hundreds of officials far away across the snow-bound steppe.

The air of gloom here is almost tangible.

Stalin once banished people to exile in Akmola - known as Tselinograd prior to Kazakh independence - and it remains extremely remote.

The ministers are to live in hostels, leaving their families behind in modern, cheerful Almaty.

Some officials are carrying electric heaters. It is already minus-30 degrees centigrade on the steppe and power supplies are erratic.

The thinking behind this deeply unpopular move is political.

Akmola is geographically in the middle of this huge country, whereas Almaty is in the far south.

The new capital is meant to assert President Nazarbayev's authority over the furthest-flung regions and send signals of sovereignty to Kazakhstan's giant neighbour, Russia.

Many Kazakhs agree with the reasoning, but some see the move as premature because of the vast costs involved at a time when poverty among ordinary people has reached alarming levels.

As for the officials, they have no choice but to board the train.

The move has been ordered by President Nazarbayev and there is no higher authority.

Summaries

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