GOTX Agencies Ordered to Self-Finance School

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000267 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD PREL TNGD TX SUBJECT: GOTX Agencies Ordered to Self-Finance School Construction REF: 05 Ashgabat 499 Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) By October 2007 there will be 20 new schools and 20 new kindergartens in Ashgabat, according to presidential decree. Government agencies that have been building residential buildings with "increased comfort and improved design" apartments for their staff are now ordered to build and self-finance adjacent schools and kindergartens. End Summary. Ministries Build Apartments, Schools, Hotels, Grow Their own Crops -------------- ¶2. (U) On February 27 President Niyazov issued a decree instructing ministries, agencies, and the Ashgabat Hakimlik (mayor's office) to self-finance and construct schools and kindergartens in Ashgabat by the end of 2007. According to the official GOTX website Turkmenistan.ru, 20 schools and 20 kindergartens are to be built. ¶3. (U) Niyazov did not indicate where the new schools and kindergartens should be located. His decree only instructed the Land Resources Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ashgabat Hakimlik to allocate plots of land. However, the schools are expected to be built next to the government agencies' new apartment buildings as suggested by Niyazov's February 19 comment to officials that the new neighborhoods should now have schools. The President opened "Mahribanlarym" [My beloved ones - the title of one of his recent poetry anthologies] kindergarten in honor of Flag Day and the President's Birthday on February 19. Four government agencies funded the construction costs: the Office of the Prosecutor-General, the Ministry of National Security, the Supreme Court and the State Border Service. Demolished school -------------- ¶4. (U) In January 2006, Ashgabat School No. 28 was demolished. The centrally located school had stood in the middle of major construction projects. Students from the school now attend two different schools located in more remote city areas. Apparently many of the teachers who once worked there still are unemployed. Building Schools - Hot Business for Foreign Firms -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) The Central Bank has an $8.5 million contract with a Turkish construction company to build a 4-story school with room for 600 students. The Ministry of Construction and Construction Materials Industry announced a tender for construction of a 160-student kindergarten and a 500-student school in "Neutral Turkmenistan." Comment -------------- ¶6. (U) Niyazov is crazed with building, most of Ashgabat is a massive construction/demolition site. While his 40-school goal may appear admirable, already beleaguered ministries are strapped for cash, and while construction may happen, there appears to be no plan to maintain, staff or equip the schools. Ministries self- financing schools is new, but it is an extension of the president's plan for most ministries to be self- financing, including building their own residences for their employees, hotels, and farming crops for additional revenue. End Comment. JACOBSON