TURKMENISTAN: PRESIDENT OPENS DESERT CITY

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001376 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: PRESIDENT OPENS DESERT CITY REF: A. ASHGABAT 1321 ¶B. ASHGABAT 0870 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) On October 17, President Berdimuhamedov, with government leaders and the diplomatic corps in tow, officially opened the model district of Ruhubelent. Ruhubelent, located about an hour's drive from the northern provincial capital of Dashoguz, is situated in the middle of nowhere. According to press reports, the Turkmenistan government spent almost $ 1 billion to develop the northern area of the country. The city was started from nothing. And, as late as mid-September (Ref A),construction was only partially complete, with buildings lacking running water and a sewer system. ¶3. (SBU) Despite the state of construction in September, the opening of the model district was on the list of activities to commemorate Turkmenistan's 17th anniversary of independence and had to be completed by mid-October. And completed it was. Now the city boasts a mayor's office, a budget-finance administrative office, a school for 320 students, a kindergarten for 90 children, a 50-bed polyclinic, prosecutor's office, police department, Ministry of National Security department, Supreme Court office, cultural center, Dayhan Bank, two shopping centers, communications department, and housing for 48 families. Each building was festooned with bright ribbon, reminding one of giant Christmas gifts. The dignitaries accompanying the president were invited to inspect the modern amenities, including visit one home (COMMENT: Most of the duplex homes still appeared to be uninhabited. END COMMENT.) and make long distance, overseas phone calls in the communications center. The communications center had an Internet cafe, and the school had state of the art multimedia equipment. The president presented the various institutions (hospital, school, cultural center) with new buses, vans, and ambulances. ¶4. (U) Berdimuhamedov said in his speech to the assembled crowd that the construction of this and other villages is based on two concepts of development of Turkmenistan. The first concept is the transformation of the social-living conditions of the populations in the regions. The second is upgrading Turkmen villages and the creation of productive abundance in the country. He said this construction is the one of the first steps on the road of fulfilling his policy of broad transformation and progressive reform, with the goal being the welfare and flourishing of the Turkmen people. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: Unfortunately, the emphasis seems mainly on new buildings and high-tech equipment to demonstrate advances in people lives. Those are indeed important, but repairing basic infrastructure and curriculum development would go much farther in building a bright future for Turkmenistan's people. END COMMENT. CURRAN