DUSHANBE, April 13, 2010, Asia-Plus – A commission for environmental issues has been set up at the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament).
According to the Majlisi Namoyandagon press service, the commission comprising 15 members of the Majlisi Namoyandagon will consider environmental protection issues.
It is to be noted that the environmental protection issues became one of main aspects in Tajik-Uzbek relations lately.
We will recall that in early February this year, Uzbek premier sent a letter to his Tajik counterpart warning official Dushanbe of potential damage by the Roghun power plant to Central Asia”s environmental balance. In the letter published in Uzbekistan”s Russian-language newspaper, Pravda Vostoka, Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev said that in a region facing water shortages and prone to earthquakes, the giant power plant project could bring catastrophic consequences.
Besides, in late March, around 1,000 students and university professors in the southern Uzbek town of Termez protested Tajikistan’s plans to expand its aluminum smelter, saying industrial waste from the plant had caused health and environmental problems. Moreover, a group of Uzbekistan’s Ecology Movement, consisting of 15 MPs, has been set up within the new Uzbek parliament. These MPs get seats in the Uzbek parliament under quota.
Relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan cooled after Tajikistan decided to raise funds within the country to complete the construction of the Roghun HPP. Uzbekistan says the Roghun station will leave it facing water shortages.
