According to statements from villagers, there is a serious shortage of kindergartens in the region, and it is often difficult to find available plots for new construction. In this regard, local residents express confusion and outrage over the transfer of land intended for social facilities into private hands. “The demolition of the kindergarten building began back in 2019. In 2023, a café opened in its place, which has been operating for three years now. Previously, there was a parking lot on the territory, and now there is a building materials store. The area of the kindergarten plot is 30 acres, and the land was transferred from hand to hand, divided into parts, and sold, according to available information, for about 15 thousand dollars,” one resident reported.
Residents assure that law enforcement agencies are aware of the situation and the attempts to reclaim the land over the past 4–5 years. “We are informed that work is underway to return it, but we suspect that secret negotiations and deals are actually taking place. If the process were really moving forward, the café and stores in this area would not continue to operate. We have raised this issue with the State Committee for National Security (GKNB),” the residents added.
The head of the Gulistan rural administration, Shukurula Satarov, clarified that the plot on which the “Nookat” café was built was originally registered as a territory for a sports complex, making it a social facility. According to him, the area of this plot is about 2 hectares. However, at present, the land is privately owned, and about 22 people hold state certificates for it.
He also reported that the process of transferring the land of the sports complex into private hands began back in the 2000s. “Information on this issue is available both at the GKNB and at the prosecutor's office. This plot was included in the master plan as a sports complex, and its area exceeds 2 hectares. Currently, negotiations are underway with the holders of state certificates, and measures are being taken to return the land to municipal ownership. The kindergarten was built later. In the registry formed based on municipal resolution No. 531, this plot is registered as a sports complex. We are in the process of reclaiming the land,” Satarov noted.
According to available data, the kindergarten plot of about 30 acres was divided among four private individuals who received state certificates for it. The population of the Gulistan rural municipality is over 25 thousand people. Currently, there are two kindergartens operating in the area, each with 100 places, but local residents believe that the construction of at least ten more preschool institutions is necessary.
