DUSHANBE, October 27, Asia-Plus — Speaking to reporters in Dushanbe on October 24, director of the Dushanbe-Chanak road rehabilitation project implementation unit, Qodir Saidov, said that implementation of the project is expected to have been completed by June 2010.
According to him, a special working group will be inspecting the quality of the road during a year and then a state commission will formally accept it and only after that, the project will be considered to be implemented.
According to him, the working group, comprising representatives of the Chinese company implementing the project, as well as representatives of Tajik ministry of transport and traffic police directorate, have already inspected and approved a 50-kilometer section of the road from the 7th kilometer in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district to the 67th kilometer in the Varzob district and a 133-kilometer section of the road in the Sughd province – from the 222nd kilometer in the Istaravshan district to the 365th kilometer n Khujand, including the progress of construction of the Shahriston Tunnel.
Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway rehabilitation project, including construction of the Shahriston Tunnel, aimed at improving road communications between Dushanbe, Khujand and the Uzbek border town of Chanak, was launched in summer 2006. Chinese company won the tender and Beijing in 2006 offered Tajikistan grants and loans to fund the project.
A total project cost is estimated at some $296 million, including $281.2 million provided by the Chinese government in a form of a long-term loan. The loan carries a 20-year period and an interest rate of 2 percent per annum. The remaining some $14 million are provided by the government of Tajikistan.
