Tajik president calls dam critical for energy independence

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DUSHANBE – In a speech broadcast nationwide on all television stations, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon called on every family January 5 not to remain on the sidelines of the construction of the Rogunsk hydroelectric dam.

The president said that in addition to construction of Rogunsk, other measures are also being implemented to ensure the country’s energy independence.

“At a cost of more than 4 billion somoni (US $900 M) we are creating a modern energy infrastructure, building high voltage transmission lines, and carrying out repairs and modernization of electric generating stations built decades ago”, Rakhmon said.

Shokirdjon Khakimov, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, told Central Asia Online the speech would find acceptance from the Tajik people.

“But in the course of their actions, state bureaucrats at various levels commit tactical mistakes in their approach and fulfillment of those ideas which are contained in the president’s speech to the people”, Khakimov said after the president’s speech.

Rakhmon pointed out the accomplishments of the government, and reminded the country that Tajikistan has been through difficult times since it became independent.

“In the course of 18 years of independence we have, under difficult conditions, achieved peace, calm and national unity, and have returned to the motherland more than one million of those forced to become refugees”, he said.

Saying that, in the future, water will become a serious problem for humanity, Rakhmon said the country will nonetheless flourish.

“Tajikistan, regardless of its lack of significant oil and gas resources, has endless hydroelectric potential, and because of this is one of the leaders in potable water reserves”, he said.

But, he added, despite this huge potential to generate hundreds of billions of kW of electricity a year, only 5 percent of this national treasure has been harnessed. As a result, Tajiks face electricity shortages during the fall and winter.

This, the president said, is a fundamental barrier to economic growth. And Rogunsk, said Rakhmon, will break down that barrier.

“Rogunsk is not just a source of light, but a national honor and achievement, the power and the strength of the state, the main factor for guaranteeing the national and state security of Tajikistan”, he said.

Rakhmon called upon entrepreneurs, Tajik migrant workers and the entire Tajik nation to support the construction of Rogun, and said that this investment will be valued by future generations as a symbol of self-sacrifice in the name of the development of the motherland.

But Khakimov said the government is funding Rogunsk the wrong way.

“They have turned this event into a forced-voluntary collection of funds from school children, university students, workers and employees of all spheres. Some state employees now have an alternative way to demonstrate their loyalty to the president. A good idea has once again been transformed into a fiction, in as much as people, without taking into account their economy self-interest, will invest and purchase shares, under fear to keep their jobs”.

Khakimov said that according to various estimates, the cost for such forced-voluntary acts amount to more than US $100 M, but nothing official has been announced anywhere.”

There is also a downside to forcing people to buy shares in the project.

“Such an inappropriate approach magnifies the level of discontent and forms a negative opinion in society. At the same time completion of construction of Rogun is critically important, which will provide not only energy independence to Tajikistan, but will increase the country’s potential for exports”.