TALDYQORGHAN, Kazakhstan -- A new public security system called a "concierge service" has begun in the southeastern Kazakh city of Taldyqorghan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
The first Kazakh "concierge," Amantay Azbaev, told RFE/RL that his duty is to monitor the yards of several apartment blocks in the area.
City officials put a small booth for the concierge in the yard as an experiment to improve safety in the city's residential areas.
Nurlan Rahimov, chief of the Social Safety Office at Taldyqorghan's Interior Affairs Department, told RFE/RL that the number of burglaries and robberies has increased in the city recentl. He blamed it on the global economic crisis.
Azbaev said the new service is expected to help increase safety and security in Taldyqorghan.