Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07DUSHANBE1093
2007-07-24 13:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Dushanbe
Cable title:  

TAJIK REGION STILL GRAPPLES WITH POST-WAR DECAY

Tags:  PGOV PREL ECON EAID EAGR TI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0905
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #1093/01 2051342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241342Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0693
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2201
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2212
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2170
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2507
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001093 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EAID EAGR TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK REGION STILL GRAPPLES WITH POST-WAR DECAY


DUSHANBE 00001093 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001093

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EAID EAGR TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK REGION STILL GRAPPLES WITH POST-WAR DECAY


DUSHANBE 00001093 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: A July 18 trip to the southern Tajik city of
Vakhsh revealed a range of economic problems, including unpaid
teachers and impoverished cotton farmers. While thousands fled
Vakhsh during the 1992-1997 Tajik civil war, the government has
attempted to lure refugees back to the area. However, adverse
economic conditions have made it difficult for some of them to
stay. Local officials described a close working relationship
between the government and active political parties, but
requested direct foreign assistance to cotton farmers to offset
the current disparity between wealthy creditors and indebted
farmers, and to increase the standard of living for the local
population. End summary.

ECONOMIC WOES


2. (SBU) Abdujadol Huseinov, Deputy Chairman of Vakhsh
district, spoke openly with PolOffs about the magnitude of
existing problems in his district, including a lack of money to
pay local teachers and old Soviet-era farming equipment which
hinders the region's cotton production. While the area received
a constant supply of electricity in the summer, during winter
months the city only received six hours per day. The seasonal
shortages prevented residents from heating their homes in the
winter and farmers from taking advantage of mechanization during
the cotton harvest. He added that between 35 and 50 percent of
the local population worked in cotton production, many receiving
extremely low salaries -- when the local government had funds
to pay them at all. The local drinking water does not meet
acceptable standards; the region's water pipes have not been
cleaned or renovated in 20 years, forcing many people to drink
river water. Given the number of cows and other animals grazing
along this river, the quality ranges from unpotable to
dangerous.


3. (SBU) The deputy chairman is desperately attempting to
attract foreign investment in the region's cotton industry and
asked the U.S. Embassy for help. According to official figures,
approximately 15,000 locals have fled to Russia to become

migrant workers; however the local government estimated the true
numbers to be higher. He argued that if his region were to
successfully attract foreign investment, this would improve the
local economic situation and standard of living, and produce
greater incentive for locals to stay in Vakhsh, rather than flee
to Russia to support their families. Local authorities were
grateful to the Japanese Embassy, the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) and U.S.-funded non-governmental organization
Save the Children, all of whom had previously completed
renovation projects in Vakhsh. These organizations had also
provided training course to local entities. While grateful for
this assistance, local officials stated that their true need was
additional money and foreign investment. (Comment: This
response is discouragingly common in Tajikistan, where many
officials view capacity building training programs as less
important than new equipment or funds. End Comment.)

STATE OF THE SCHOOLS


4. (SBU) PolOffs visited two local schools in austere
condition; the ubiquitous holes in windows, cracks in the walls,
and drooping ceilings gave the schools the appearance of having
survived a recent bombing raid. The school director reported
that if the area experienced even a minor earthquake, many area
schools would collapse outright. The local government did not
have enough money to pay teachers, let alone renovate schools,
and had formed a parents' committee to solicit donations for
teacher salaries. The number of students now exceeds available
school space; and some teachers are holding classes in old train
cars in the absence of additional classrooms. A growing number
of parents preferred home schooling rather than subjecting their
children to these conditions.


5. (SBU) A Vakhsh boarding school with 300 students, mainly
orphans or children of criminals, was in better physical
condition, since the local government subsidized its costs.
According to local officials, these students studied for free,
and most of them also received a free college education in
Dushanbe, Russia or other parts of the former Soviet Union.

EFFECTS OF DISPLACEMENT...


6. (SBU) The current population of Vakhsh is 138,000 people.
Approximately 90,000 refugees fled Vakhsh during the Tajik civil
war. Following the war, the government instituted programs in
1999 and 2001 to attempt to lure Tajik refugees back to their

DUSHANBE 00001093 002.2 OF 002


homeland; as a result, 15,000 Tajiks returned from Afghanistan,
and others returned from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and
Turkmenistan. Approximately 130 Tajiks returned home from
Pakistan, where they had been studying at a madrassa. Dismayed
at the poor economic conditions, many wanted to return to
Pakistan. Approximately 500 Tajiks never came home, and the
Tajik government currently considers them "missing." Some fear
that they may have joined radical or terrorist groups in
Pakistan. While all eight political parties are registered in
the region, only three actively work with the population: the
Communist Party, President Rahmon's People's Democratic Party of
Tajikistan (PDPT) and the Islamic Renaissance Party of
Tajikistan (IRPT).

... AND DEBT


7. (SBU) Local officials outlined the disparity of wealth
between farms associated with futures companies, and those that
operate independently. Under current practice, futures
companies agree to pay for a certain portion of land,
fertilizer, worker salaries, and technical needs to maximize
cotton produced on a defined area of land. The futures companies
agree to purchase the cotton produced from the land after the
harvest at a fixed price, often below the market value. Futures
companies force the local farms to purchase their equipment,
which puts the farms into debt. However, farms not affiliated
with futures companies have less access to credit and older
equipment. As a result, the cotton they produce is of poorer
quality, which makes it more difficult to sell on the local
market. Local officials requested investment for these cotton
farms not affiliated with futures companies, to improve the
quality of their cotton, and make it easier to sell on the local
market.


8. (SBU) Comment: Deputy Chairman Huseinov rose to his post in
the post-civil war power sharing agreement in which the
government gave 30 percent of jobs to the opposition. While
Huseinov is not an Islamic Renaissance Party member, he was
connected to former party leader Said Abdullo Nuri. Huseinov
also stated that extremism did not exist in his region, since
both sides still respect the post civil war accommodation
between government and opposition. However, given the existing
austere economic conditions, Huseinov is desperately seeking
foreign investment to improve the local quality of life -- and
to ensure that the local population continues to express
peacefully its hopes for a better future. End Comment.
JACOBSON