DUSHANBE, July 9, 2013, Asia-Plus — With the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s loan of US$ 2 million and the EU’s technical support, Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province will improve solid waste collection.
According to the EBRD Dushanbe Office, the EBRD is supporting improvements to living conditions for the people of Tajikistan, where municipal services need urgent upgrading.
In Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers south of Dushanbe, more than 75,000 people can now look forward to a better quality of life. The city is one of the most populous and least developed in the country. Currently waste collection is sporadic in the central city districts, but many suburbs have not seen any solid waste collection for years, and illegal dumps are springing up. With financing from the EBRD the city will buy new machinery for waste collection and transport, while the waste collection points and the city’s landfill will be rehabilitated.
The EBRD is providing a US$ 2 million state-guaranteed loan to Qurghon Teppa and the local branch of the State Unitary Enterprise Khojagii Manziliyu Kommunali (KMK – Tajikistan’s state-owned agency responsible for basic municipal services). The EU’s Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA) has also provided US$ 993,000 for the feasibility study, environmental impact assessment and project implementation support.
KMK Director, Alimurod Taghoymurodov, said: “We welcome the EBRD’s first investment in solid waste management with KMK and would like to express our gratitude to the Bank for its continued support of all our activities.”
Mr. Ulf Hindstrom, Head of the EBRD’s Resident Office in Tajikistan, for his party, noted, “By financing the investments in Qurghon Teppa, the EBRD is continuing its successful work to modernize municipal services in Tajikistan. In total, including this project, the EBRD and its donor partners have committed over US$ 100 million towards better municipal services in Tajikistan.”
Since the beginning of its operations in Tajikistan, the EBRD has reportedly invested some US$ 400 million into different sectors of the country’s economy, focusing on areas that improve people’s lives, such as public utilities and infrastructure.
