DUSHANBE, March 12, 2013, Asia-Plus — The Dushanbe mayor’s office has announced a repeated tender for modernization of the Poytakht (The Capital) public TV channel.
Poytakht director Abduqodir Abduqahhor says the repeated tender has been announced because only intermediary firms participated in the tender announced by the mayor’s office in December.
“Purchase and installation of a new retransmitter for 100,000 USD is just the first step towards Poytakht’s shift to digital broadcasting,” Abduqahhor noted.
Poytakht, which is controlled by the Dushanbe city administration, has not been available since the morning of February 25. Many people attributed that to the upcoming presidential election in Tajikistan.
Abduqodir Abduqahhor, however, denied these suppositions as absolutely baseless. “The channel stopped broadcasting because of technical problems with transmission equipment,” Poytakht director said, noting that all the necessary spare parts were delivered from Ukraine last week.
“We have not resumed broadcasting so far because open joint-stock company (OJSC) Teleradiokom is delaying installation of the retransmitter under various pretexts and there is no end to these bureaucratic delays,” the director said.
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on February 26 that Poytakht has gone off the air after broadcasting an interview with a prominent dissident poet. On the evening of February 24, the Poytakht TV channel showed an interview with Ms. Gulrukhsor Safiyeva, who is known for her verses criticizing the Tajik government.
The Poytakht public television channel now can be picked up by residents of Dushanbe and nearby districts; in all, some 2 million people.
