DUSHANBE, January 21, 2016, Asia-Plus — Today only four buildings in Dushanbe are considered to be of cultural and historical significance, Nourali Saidzoda, the first deputy head of the Committee for Construction and Architecture under the Government of Tajikistan, told reporters in Dushanbe on January 21.
“Under government’s decision adopted in Soviet era, only four sites in Dushanbe are considered to be of cultural and historical significance,” said Saidzoda. “These sites include the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan (the government is now placed in this building – Asia-Plus), the building of the House of Government (Tajik parliament building – Asia-Plus), the building of the Firdavsi Library (Tajikistan’s Accounts Chamber building – Asia-Plus) and the building of the Opera and Ballet Theater.”
According to him, the other sites will be demolished in case of necessity.
Saidzoda further added that the Committee for Construction and Architecture together with the Ministry of Culture and the Academy of Sciences were preparing a new list of buildings of cultural and historical significance.
We will recall that plans to demolish some of the most popular landmarks in Dushanbe have sparked outrage. In a desperate bid to halt the destruction, hundreds of city residents in October last year signed an online petition addressed to President Emomali Rahmon and Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev. The petition drew more than 600 signatures in the first day alone.
Reacting to a wave of Internet grumbling, Nourali Saidzoda told the
Asia-Plus
newspaper that time that the buildings selected for demolition were of negligible value and needed replacing with modern hi-tech substitutes.
