DUSHANBE, July 10, 2013, Asia-Plus – An article “Lots of Personality: Central Asia”s Vanity Projects” that was posted on Radio Liberty’s website on July 9, in particular notes that although Central Asia boasts some of the world”s oldest and most beautiful heritage sites, it is fast becoming equally well-known for ambitious, modern construction projects. The article says that as the region”s authoritarian leaders have maintained their grip, building complexes have cropped up that seek to amplify certain leaders” personality cults.
The article describes eight highest-profile “vanity projects” in the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.
Tajikistan is reportedly home to four of those vanity projects.
The first of them is a humongous teahouse. The article notes that built at an estimated cost of $60 million (or 1 percent of the country”s GDP), the opening of the teahouse is scheduled to coincide with Tajikistan’s Independence Day in September this year.
The second vanity project located in Tajikistan is the National Library. “According to Tajik officials, Dushanbe’s $40 million library is the largest in Central Asia. When it was first opened in the fall of 2012, the library only had one quarter of the 10 million books that it is capable of storing and Tajik citizens were asked to donate their own books. However, many wonder if the library is fulfilling its original purpose given that its most-popular feature is the electronic reading room equipped with 170 computers,” the article says.
The third project is the flagpole in Dushanbe. The article says, “Tajikistan has had a tough time keeping its flag flying on what “Guinness World Records” says is the largest flagpole on the planet.” The flagpole is located in front of President Emomali Rahmon’s Palace of Nations complex in downtown Dushanbe.
The Palace of Nations is reportedly the fourth of eight Central Asia’s vanity projects located in Tajikistan. “Described as a neoclassical structure with 64 faux Doric-columns, Tajikistan’s Palace of the Nation is an extravagant presidential complex filled with parks and fountains,” the article said, noting that the building reportedly cost a whopping $300 million to build.
