DUSHANBE, March 6, 2009, Asia-Plus — Works at the Istiqlol Tunnel (also known as Anzob Tunnel) that links northern Tajikistan with the central part of the country have been suspended due to lack of financing, Habib Davlatov, an official with the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, they need more than 5 million US dollars for complete construction of ventilation, lighting and fire-extinguishing systems at the tunnel.
“Although the presidents of Tajikistan and Iran signed an agreement in Tehran last August on additional financing of construction of the Istiqlol Tunnel and under that agreement, Iran committed itself to provide a grant of 6 million US dollars, we have not yet received these funds,” Davlatov said, expressing hope that the issue would be solved during the upcoming visit of President Rahmon to Tehran.
The MoTC noted that 39 million US dollars had been spent for construction of the Istiqlol Tunnel. The tunnel, 5.5 kilometers in length, has been built with assistance of Iranian specialists.
We will recall that Iran’s Saber International has constructed the Istiqlol Tunnel. The total project cost was estimated at 40 million US dollars, and Iran has provided US$10 million in a form of grant and extended a loan worth US$21.5 million to Tajikistan. Tajikistan’s contribution is 7.6 million US dollars.
The tunnel makes the highway from Dushanbe to Khujand open for traffic the whole year round and drops the transit time by four to five hours.
