DUSHANBE, April 4, 2012, Asia-Plus — During discussion of a bill on coal mining, deputy of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament Suhrob Sharipov has sharply criticized the Ministry of Energy and Industries for ‘poor work.’
A regular sitting of the third session of the Majlisi Namoyandagon of the fourth convocation, presided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov, was held on April 4.
Speaking at the meeting, MP Sharipov noted that Tajikistan has been plunged into an energy crisis for more than a decade.
“No one combined heat and power (CHP) plant has been built in the country over the years of independence,” said Sharipov said. “Agreements concluded with foreign partners on construction of such facilities in the country are not implemented. I mean an agreement with China on construction of a new CHP plant in Dushanbe, Dushanbe-2, with capacity of 270 megawatt in Dushanbe.”
He noted that the agreement with China was signed nearly four years ago. “If the agreement had been implemented in time, the problem of providing Dushanbe and nearby districts with electrical power would have been tackled,” MP said.
Parliamentarian’s criticism, directed at the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), came during discussion of a draft law on coal mining.
Meanwhile, Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali noted that his ministry has done a lot for bringing the country out of the energy crisis. “Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant (HPP) and the first unit of the Sangtuda-2 HPP have been introduced into operation in recent years,” said the minister, “More than 270 small hydropower plants have been built and more than 2,500 solar batteries have been delivered to mountain areas.”
“As far as the construction of the Dushanbe-2 CHP plant is concerned, there were some technical problems. To-date, all these problems have been resolved and the construction of the plant will start in the near future,” Gul said, adding that construction a CHP plant with capacity of 300 megawatt will start between Konibodom and Isfara in the near future.
After detailed discussion the bill on coal mining was unanimously endorsed by the Majlisi Namoyandagon deputies.
We will recall that MPs were supposed to consider the draft law on coal mining on March 7 but the Majlisi Namoyandagon Speaker Shukurjon Zuhurov proposed to remove the bill from the agenda that time because of absence of Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali. “I have repeatedly stated that draft laws dealing with any specific sector will not be considered if the head of the appropriate ministry is absent for no reason,” the speaker noted.
