DOWN AND OUT IN THE FERGHANA VALLEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 000277

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017
TAGS: SOCI ECON ELAB KCOR KCRM PGOV PHUM EAID UZ
SUBJECT: DOWN AND OUT IN THE FERGHANA VALLEY

REF: 05 TASHKENT 2118

Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).

AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
AMEMBASSY ASTANA
AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017
TAGS: SOCI ECON ELAB KCOR KCRM PGOV PHUM EAID UZ
SUBJECT: DOWN AND OUT IN THE FERGHANA VALLEY

Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).


1. (C) Summary: On a recent visit to all three Uzbek
provinces of the Ferghana Valley, Poloff visited bazaars,
schools, and hospitals, meeting a wide range of market
traders and local government officials. Men were
conspicuously absent from the bazaars, with most working
abroad or fearing arrest for selling products illegally.
Female day laborers were highly visible. Informed contacts
note that local officials have a vested interest in
perpetuating poor-quality roads and highways in order to gain
more funds for repairs, and that newly appointed
administrators regularly embark on massive construction
sprees to support their personal income. There is a shortage
of qualified English teachers in Kokand and other cities.
Doctors report that anemia is the greatest health problem
facing women and children. End summary.

MARKETS AND BAZAARS: WHERE HAVE ALL THE MEN GONE?
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2. (C) The director of the Kokand Businesswoman's
Association, Sokhiba Ergasheva (strictly protect),a former
Kokand Deputy Mayor, told Poloff that female day laborer
markets have emerged over the last five to ten years and are
now widespread in the Ferghana Valley and around the country.
Poloff observed that bazaars all over the Valley were
largely comprised of women traders. Many of these traders
told Poloff that their husbands were either working abroad or
at home, avoiding police harassment. Many of the women
traders were illegally selling products on the street in
front of the market, rather than in officially registered
market stalls. They said that men doing a similar activity
would be more likely to face arrest or a beating. (Note:
While speaking to a shoe shop owner in the Ferghana City
bazaar, Poloff observed the visit of a tax inspector
demanding a payment. The shop owner stated that he hadn't
sold anything in a while, to which the tax inspector curtly
remarked, "That's what you told me last time." End note.)

ROAD AND CONSTRUCTION CORRUPTION
--------------


3. (C) Valley contacts, including one with close relatives in
the Namangan Administration, told Poloff that local officials
have a stake in maintaining the poor condition of roads and
highways; the worse they are, the more state funds the
localities are entitled to for repairs. Funds are then
embezzled, with state-supplied repair equipment, including
trucks, routinely sold off for income. Contacts also
described how most new mayors and provincial governors launch
construction projects immediately after assuming office in
order to recoup the cost of "purchasing" their jobs, an
expense which generally runs into several hundred thousand
dollars. A newly appointed official, for example, will claim
that the cost of constructing a particular building is
$100,000, whereas the actual cost is only half that, and the
official pockets the difference.

NAMANGAN: THE FACADE
--------------


4. (C) Namangan residents told Poloff that the modern-looking
houses and buildings on its main street were built with
embezzled funds. While the houses provide a facade of
economic activity and development, there is little underneath
the veneer, with most either unoccupied or unfinished.
Namangan residents also noted that a large amusement park in
the center of the city, for which many houses had to be

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destroyed in 2003, is also nearly always empty. The head of
the Namangan Republican Children's Fund, Gulsara Rapigalieva,
(daughter of Namangan's first post-independence provincial
governor),lamented that there is no culture of philanthropy
among wealthy Uzbeks. Pointing out that Namangan was home to
the Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Tip Top juice factories, she
regretted that the poor and needy did not receive more
support.


5. (C) Namangan and other Valley residents complained that
they have had no train access to Tashkent since President
Karimov refused to negotiate with Tajikistan on transit
through Khujand. (Note: Valley residents overwhelmingly use
cars and buses for travel to Tashkent, taking the Kokand
mountain pass and tunnels. End note.)

TEACHERS STRUGGLING IN KOKAND
--------------


6. (C) Ludmila Nikolayevna Alekseeva (strictly protect),the
former President of Kokand's English Language Teachers
Association, who teaches at Kokand School No. 21, told Poloff
that she sorely missed the presence of Peace Corps
volunteers. (Note: Peace Corps was forced to leave the
country in June 2005. End note.) She added that there were
not enough qualified English language teachers in Kokand
Province to satisfy demand, and that many had left for higher
paying jobs abroad. Alekseeva, who speaks excellent English
and has participated in a Department-sponsored visit to the
U.S., confirmed that teachers were under instructions not to
inform students about study opportunities in the U.S. She
added that there was a government resolution obliging any
school or NGO seeking to cooperate with international
organizations to obtain prior permission from the government.



7. (C) Alekseeva said that she makes about $64 (80,000 soum)
per month, of which $22 (28,000 soum) goes towards taxes.
Her main income is from after-school tutoring, from which she
earns about 80 cents (1,000 soum) per hour per student. She
added that school teachers had been ordered to pick cotton
from September to December, but that students had not
participated. (Comment: This seems unusual, since only
Tashkent-based and lyceum students are usually excluded from
cotton picking. If true, this could be explained by the
attendance of children of prominent local officials at the
school. End comment.) The school director told Poloff that
the school needs financial support to repair its leaky
ceilings and dilapidated furniture and school desks, many of
which are broken. (Comment: According to Post's Regional
English Language Officer, most schools, except for lyceums,
are composed of Soviet-era infrastructure with limited
renovation having taken place. End comment.) The school
hallway displayed the slogan: "Every Muslim's duty is to get
an education." In an illustration of the poverty level in
the Valley, Alekseeva noted that many schoolgirls cannot
afford feminine hygiene products.

ANDIJON DOCTORS: ANEMIA IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
-------------- ---


8. (C) Andijon Maternity Hospital No. 1 director Alisher
Egamberdiev (strictly protect) and head gynecologist Oksana
Yeletskaya (strictly protect),told Poloff that the hospital
delivered 4,500 babies in 2006, and currently was averaging
twelve babies per day. The doctors noted that fertility
rates have decreased as Soviet-era subsidies and awards for
producing a large number of children have been eliminated.
The doctors said that they expect Uzbekistan to soon adopt
the international live birth definition. Under a
USAID-financed health reform pilot program, Ferghana Province
is currently the only area of the country to have accepted
the World Health Organization's live birth definition.
(Note: It is widely acknowledged that adoption of the
international standard will result in a significant increase
in the reported infant mortality rate. In January a Ferghana
television report stated that the infant mortality rate
increased in 2006. End note.)


9. (C) The Andijon doctors stated that the biggest challenge
facing women and children is iron-deficiency anemia. (Note:
In July 2005 the Ministry of Health and UNICEF launched a
national flour fortification program, through a grant from
the Global Alliance for Improvement in Nutrition, supported
by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - reftel. End
note.) Valley contacts told Poloff that citizens prefer to
buy regular white bread rather than the healthier variety

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containing enriched flour. Despite the higher cost of
regular bread, citizens prefer its white color. In addition,
the doctors noted that five to six percent of female patients
at the hospital suffer from iodine deficiency.


10. (C) Malohat Mirziyaeva (strictly protect),the head of
the Andijon Republican Children's Fund, told Poloff that the
mid-January news reports attributing the death at age 42 of
Andijon Mayor Abdumajid Egamberdiev to a heart attack were
accurate. Mirziyaeva, who has close ties to the Mayor's
office, said that Egamberdiev had suffered two heart attacks
before. (Note: Egamberdiev had only been appointed Mayor in
October 2006. End note.) She mentioned that the Children's
Fund had opened a "mini-textile" factory to employ single
mothers from low income families. Her main client is the
government, and annual sales average about $40,000 (50
million soum) per year.

TAJIKISTAN BORDER CROSSING
--------------


11. (C) Poloff visited an Uzbek-Tajik border crossing at
Patar/Sovur Tepa, near Kokand. (Note: This is not a major
border crossing, and travelers on both sides of the border
have reported difficulty finding it. End note.) On a Sunday
morning the crossing was fairly quiet, with local traffic
going back and forth and numerous trucks overflowing with
fire-wood heading into Tajikistan. Fixers offered to
facilitate a crossing for a fee of around $3.20 (4,000 soum).

COMMENT - IT'S NOT LOOKING BRIGHT
--------------


12. (C) The Ferghana Valley faces significant development
challenges, which the government is failing to address.
Labor migration has reached massive proportions. Corruption
and embezzlement are proceeding as if there were no tomorrow.
Meanwhile women are bearing the burden of raising their
children in a decaying social-economic environment. Bright
stories are few and far between. End comment.

PURNELL