During monitoring, representatives of the Ombudsman found significant deficiencies in the social infrastructure of the district.
According to data from the rural administration, a project called "Taza Suu" (Clean Water) was implemented from 2020 to 2021, funded by the World Bank with nearly 235.2 million soms. The Agency for Community Development and Investments (ARIS) oversaw the project, while the contracting organizations were "Profit Express" and JSC "Jumgal Suu Kurolysh".
Although the project was completed and put into operation in 2023, the issue of clean water remains relevant. In some houses in the village of Sargata, low pressure is observed, causing water to be unavailable for weeks, and sometimes dirty water flows from the tap.
According to the conclusion of the Jalal-Abad inter-district center for disease prevention and sanitary supervision dated July 4, 2025, serious violations were identified in the villages of Sargata and Uch-Terek:
- Poor construction of water supply pipes, which often break during hydraulic shocks;
- Water reaches individual houses only once every 15 days due to design errors.
Moreover, the lack of a laboratory and specialists in the rural district means that the water used by the population has not been laboratory tested for three years.
Insufficient sanitary supervision violates the requirements of the Law "On Drinking Water" and the technical regulation "On the Safety of Drinking Water".
Interestingly, the tariff for drinking water in the Uch-Terek rural district is significantly higher than in other settlements in the province and even in the capital. Residents of three villages pay 31.7 soms per cubic meter, while in Toktogul the price is 17 soms, and in Bishkek — 10.45 soms.
Local residents note that high tariffs negatively affect their socio-economic situation.
Representatives of local authorities and contracting organizations are not taking active measures to address the problems, citing each other as the reason.
The situation in Uch-Terek serves as a vivid example of systemic deficiencies in the implementation of state and donor programs.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry, a total of 88 projects aimed at providing the population with clean water have been implemented since 2019, amounting to over 5.7 billion soms. However, despite such significant funds, the inefficiency of certain projects raises serious questions about the targeted use of budgetary and donor funds, as well as the presence of corruption risks, the Ombudsman institute notes.
Jalal-Abad Ombudsman Jamilya Dzhamanbaeva emphasized that the situation in the Uch-Terek rural district violates the fundamental social and environmental rights of local residents.
She sent a letter to the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan proposing measures to address the clean water issue, as well as to conduct an inspection of the work carried out under the "Taza Suu" project in the villages of Uch-Terek and Sargata and to consider the accountability of the commission responsible for monitoring and accepting the project.
The institute also suggests conducting a comprehensive audit of all projects aimed at providing the population with clean drinking water implemented since 2019.
It was previously reported that Kyrgyzstan needs $1.2 billion in investments to provide villages with clean water.
