Members of Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament have unanimously voted for ratification of the Letters of Exchange on the Project for Rehabilitation of the Qalai Khumb-Vanj-Rushan Administrative Border Section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma-China Highway.
A regular sitting of the Majlisi Namoyandagon, presided over by its head Muhammadtoir Zokirzoda, took place on June 16.
The Letters of Exchange that were signed on May 21, 2021, in particular, note that China will allocate about US$204 million in no-strings aid to Tajikistan for implementation of this project.
This 96-kilometer section is considered one of the most difficult sections of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma-China highway.
Recall, during his working visit to GBAO in August last year, President Emomali Rahmon on August 20 last year met with residents of Vanj district. During the meeting, Rahmon noted that work on rehabilitation of the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road, which is one of the key sections of the highway connecting Dushanbe and Kulma Pass on the border between the GBAO and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, will begin before the end of the year. The president reportedly said that the coronavirus pandemic had pushed back the signing of the document on rehabilitation of that section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway.
Rahmon noted at the time that the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road was 96 kilometers in length and 2 billion somonis would be spent for rehabilitation of that road. According to him, the Qalai Khumb-Vanj road rehabilitation project includes construction of 15 bridges and two tunnels. The project is expected to be complete in three years.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport noted in October 2019 that the project aimed at rehabilitating this section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway provides for construction of two tunnels with a total length of 5.2 kilometer, several galleries with a total length of 490 meters, 15 bridges with a total length of 634 meters and some other facilities.
The then Frist Deputy Minister of Transport, Suhrob Mirzozoda, had earlier told Asia-Plus that Beijing will award a grant of 1.307 billion Yuan (equivalent to 186 million U.S. dollars) for rehabilitation of the Qalai Khumb-Vanj section of the Dushanbe-Khorog-Kulma highway.
