DUSHANBE, April 12, Asia-Plus — A test asphalting of one of sections of the highway from Dushanbe to Uzbek border via Khujand started in the Mastchoh district in the beginning of this week, Qodir Saidov, director of the unit for implementation of the Rehabilitation of the Dushanbe-Khuajnd Chanak (Uzbekistan) project, said.
According to him, to speed up the implementation of the project they plan to recruit additional manpower. “In order to complete the project by the date fixed (August 2008) we will recruit some 500 other Tajik and Chinese road-builders,” Saidov said, noting that 1,443 workers, including 511 Tajiks, have to date been involved in rehabilitation of the highway.
According to him, they have spent $28 million on the Dushanbe-Chanak road construction project so far.
We will recall that rehabilitation of the highway from Dushanbe via Khujand to Uzbek border (Chanak) officially commenced last summer.
A total cost of the project, which also includes construction the Shahriston tunnel and a series of bridges, is some $296. Of this amount, $282.1 million are provided by China’s government as a soft loan, carrying an annual interest rate of 2percent. The loan is repayable over 20 years. A share of Tajikistan’s government n this project is $14 million.
