RFE
16 Nov 2018, 23:07 GMT+10
DUSHANBE -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has launched a new hydroelectric station that had been vehemently opposed for years by the late leader of neighboring Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.
At a large ceremony on November 16 at the Roghun power plant, Rahmon pressed a red button to switch on the plant's first of six planned turbines.
Other top Tajik officials and foreign guests attended the ceremony in the Central Asian nation's south.
Dushanbe hopes the $3.9 billion project built on the Vakhsh river will not only make the country energy self-sufficient, but plans to export some of its output to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.
The project was launched in the late 1970s but halted after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
Construction restarted in late October 2016, less than two months after the announced death of Karimov, the long-term president of neighboring Uzbekistan.
Karimov opposed the project, saying the dam would reduce water flows to Uzbekistan's cotton fields.
Last year, Tajikistan raised $500 million from an inaugural international bond offering to help finance the construction, which is being carried out by an Italian company, Salini Impregilo.
Dushanbe hopes to generate money to finance further construction at the plant after its starts producing energy.
Filippo Menga, a lecturer on human geography at Britain's University of Reading, told RFE/RL on November 15 that the inauguration of the dam's first turbine is 'only a first step of a construction process that will still take several years.'
'And indeed, it is still unclear how the dam is going to be paid for and if construction works will ever come to an end, and this is something that with Roghun is always going to be an issue, given the turbulent story of the project and the many interruptions of construction works that it experienced in the past. The road is still long before the dam is going to generate vast amount of hydroelectricity and thus generate a profit,' Menga said in an e-mail response.
In 2014, Human Rights Watch criticized the project, saying that many families residing in the Roghun dam area would be resettled as a result.
RFE/RL's Tajik Service
RFE/RL's Tajik Service attracts a young, influential audience with its timely, locally focused reporting. The government's continued vigor in controlling politics and media has lent further impetus to Radio Ozodi's trusted coverage.
webteam@rferl.org Subscribe via RSS
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036
Get a daily dose of Perth Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Perth Herald.
More InformationDUBAI, UAE - The property market in Dubai has been sinking since 2014, and is likely to remain depressed for ...
LONDON, UK - The founder of Huawei has hit back at U.S. criticism of his company, accusing the United States ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Saudi Arabia has agreed to invest an intial $20 billion in Pakistan, and plans to invest much ...
Diehard jihadists have blocked roads out of the last scrap of their Islamic State group "caliphate" in Syria, US-backed forces ...
ANKARA, Turkey - The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has lowered reserve requirement ratios to improve liquidity in ...
PALM BEACH, Florida - U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed on current discussions on trade, underway between the U.S., ...
PERTH, Western Australia - An international drug ring operating in the West Australian capital of Perth has been dismantled. In ...
Cape Town - Athletics South Africa (ASA) has assembled a team of predominantly local legal and medical experts to challenge ...
Florida [US], Feb 19 (ANI): Petra Kvitova on Tuesday managed to outclass her Czech compatriot Katerina Siniakova 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 ...
Dubai [UAE], Feb 19 (ANI): Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki has withdrawn from the ongoing Dubai Duty Free Tennis ...
Monte Carlo [Monaco], Feb 19 (ANI): World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic won the Laureus World Sportsman of the ...
Dubai [UAE], Feb 18 (ANI): International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said the bowling action of Sri Lanka spinner Akila ...
DUBLIN, Ireland - Following its successful acquisition of Hollywood-based Blindlight, Irish video-gaming company Keywords Studios has now announced its latest accomplishment. Keywords r ...
Read More