Archive · 2022 · From the print edition of Friday 17 June 2022, Vol. 30, No. 9,161
NewsJournalist's accreditation restored
Aigul Daniyarova, whose press accreditation was withdrawn in 2020 after a report on arsenic in wells near the Chatkal smelter, can again work as an accredited reporter.
TALAS — The press accreditation of Aigul Daniyarova, an investigative journalist who reports on pollution and safety in the mining industry, has been restored, she said yesterday. The ISEZ withdrew it in 2020 after she published a report on arsenic levels in wells near the Chatkal smelter.
Daniyarova has written for the Steppe Investigative Network since 2014. She has reported on seepage from the Chatkal Tailings Repository, on dust at the Sary-Bulak Antimony Works and on the Soviet uranium tailings at Mailuu-Suu. The companies concerned disputed her 2020 report on the wells, which lie near the smelter of the Chatkal Chemical Smelting Complex in Sary-Bulak District.
"I am glad to have my card back. I would rather have had answers about the water," Daniyarova told the Herald. She said she had been given no reason for the withdrawal or for the decision to reverse it.
The Department of Public Information confirmed that her accreditation had been renewed following a review and said it did not comment on individual cases. The Iradi Antimony and Rare Metals Combine, which controls the smelter, has said that it monitors emissions and water in line with ISEZ regulations.