DUSHANBE, June 15, Asia-Plus – On Thursday June 14, Transport and Communications Minister Abdurahim Ashurov met here with Japanese specialists, members of visiting mission of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to discuss a progress of implementation of the project for rehabilitation of the highway Qurghon Teppa-Dousti in the Khatlon province, Asia-Plus has learned at the ministry of transport and communications (MoTC).
This project is funded by the Government of Japan and the source at a MoTC said that Japanese specialists had arrived in Tajikistan to study the project. According to him, a protocol on rehabilitation of the highway from Qurghon Teppa to Dousti was signed last year, during the first visit of Japanese specialists to Tajikistan.
The investment project for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the highway Qurghon Teppa-Dousti-Panji Poyon, worked out by Tajik specialists, aims to link Dushanbe to southern region of the country as well as consolidate permanent overland links between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The length of the highway is 85 kilometers and a total project cost is $9.415 million, according to the source.
Later, the project was divided into two separate ones: rehabilitation of the Qurghon Teppa-Dousti road and rehabilitation of the Dousti-Panji Poyon road.
The work on rehabilitation and reconstruction of the highway from Dousti to Panji Poyon is under way. The first phase of this project officially commenced on May 22 this year and is scheduled to be finished next spring and the second phase will start. Japan’s Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd is rehabilitating the road.
Founded in 1937, Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ltd. has earned recognition worldwide as one of Japan’s leading general contractors. The Company is renowned for its taking on of new challenges and for its development and introduction of sophisticated technologies in the fields of civil engineering and building construction. With its headquarters in Tokyo, Nishimatsu has a network of 11 branches and 44 sales offices around Japan, as well as overseas offices in 13 countries.
We will recall that this highway will connect Dousti, the administrative center of the Qumsangir district, with the Tajik-Afghan bridge across the Panj River, which is scheduled to be put into operation in September this year. The Government of the United States provided more than $28 million for the project. The bridge will enhance economic and commercial opportunities for both sides of the river, allowing goods and people to move across more easily.
