Ak Bata v. Kyrgyzgaz

The communities around the bazaar are known as "novastroika" or new construction. Almost all of the so-called villages came into being after independence and sprang up on land that had pretty much been farmland. The situation made land rights a hazy affair. If people moved to the land before privatization but were not supposed to be living there, who owns the land. The state had more pressing matters to attend to than to sort out the legality of new residents during a time when the very basis of the legal framework was in shift. In the context of widespread economic disintegration the population of "squatters" grew quickly. Soon, their were too many to simply evict them. The squatters, well aware of their potentially tenuous position were fairly well organized, united in an interest to hold on to land, sensitive to threats to their situation and, perhaps most important, had little to lose. Eventually the de facto situation gained official recognition by the government and the squatter communities were incorporated as villages. Many of the underlying land issues, however had not been fully resolved.

One area of a village happens to have been constructed over the sight of a gas pipeline. The company which owns the pipeline, Kyrgyzgas, now claims that the pipeline presents a danger to the community. Furthermore they are claiming rights to a swath of land above the underground pipe. They want the residents to leave. However, it also appears that if one pays some 10,000 som (about $US 250) that it will be possible to keep the land.

Residents are concerned by this development. The families are, generally speaking, not well off. But they have invested their time and money into improving their homes and neighborhoods, not to mention the fact that there is a strong sense of community that many are not eager to abandon.

The residents have organized a group to express their concern over the potential ouster. They have hired a lawyer and have met with a judge. The matter is now before the judge with some sort of a decision about the legality of the gas company's claim expected soon.

The families are not hopeful that the judge will decide in their favor. I am not trying to harp on the corruption issue, but judges, like all civil servants make very little in the way of monthly salary and selling out just one or two cases a month can do wonders for their standard of living. The residents also lament that they are not positive about the caliber of their lawyer. Many are not sure what they will do if things go against them. The $250 sum is very high and there seems to be little guarantee that the payment would really resolve the situation. Moving to a new location would also be very expensive and socially undesireable.

Last winter was the coldest on record for decades in Kyrgyzstan and life in the houses of the bazaar ring villages was difficult. By many accounts even harrowing at times. Many I know stocked up on coal and wood to last them through this winter but while so far the weather has cooperated but another sort of trouble may be on the horizon.