OSH TRIP: MINISTER OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS TELLS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000958 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EAID KG SUBJECT: OSH TRIP: MINISTER OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS TELLS AMBASSADOR OF ASSISTANCE NEEDS BISHKEK 00000958 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: During a September 16-17 trip to the southern Osh Oblast, Ambassador met with Minister of Emergency Situations Kamchibek Tashiyev. Tashiyev expressed his concern that the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) was severely underfunded and in desperate need of additional resources. He spoke favorably of the cooperation with the Embassy, and he requested additional U.S. support to his ministry through USAID, the Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (EXBS) program, and the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. Tashiyev explained that his ministry was headquartered in the south because that is where the majority of disaster incidents occur. Citing an attempt by the outlawed extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir to provide humanitarian assistance following an earthquake, Tashiyev said that his Ministry needed to screen all offers of humanitarian assistance. End summary. ACHIEVEMENTS ON A LIMITED BUDGET -------------- ¶2. (C) Ambassador met September 16 with Minister of Emergency Situations Kamchibek Tashiyev at his office in Osh. Tashiyev described to Ambassador his Ministry's capacity to react to disasters and what he has accomplished with the MES budget. The Minister estimated the annual damage from natural and man-made disasters at $35 million, while the MES budget is only $6 million. Tashiyev said that the country has one rescue center in each of the seven oblasts, but he estimated a need for eight more such centers. He spoke highly of a UNDP project that helped create crisis management centers in Bishkek and Osh, and he hopes to open a third in Jalalabad. Tashiyev said that MES recently purchased 20 dump trucks essential to their operations and over $700,000 in firefighting equipment, replacing equipment that had been neglected since the country's independence. Tashiyev lamented his small budget, and said that they "do what they can with what they have." U.S. ASSISTANCE HELPFUL, BUT MORE NEEDED -------------- ¶3. (C) Tashiyev expressed his gratitude for U.S. assistance to MES, but he encouraged further cooperation and additional programs to improve the Ministry's capabilities. The Minister thanked the U.S. for collaborative efforts by EXBS and the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC),specifically praising the IMET program. However, he also pointed out that U.S. assistance to his Ministry had fallen considerably, from $1.6 million in 2006, to $127,000 in 2007, and nothing in ¶2008. Tashiyev asked the Ambassador for increased assistance, explaining that the Ministry desperately needed vehicles equipped with flood lights to illuminate disaster scenes, such as the August 24 Itek Air plane crash outside Bishkek. Tashiyev added that MES needed vehicles with satellite up-links that would create an effective communications network between disaster sites and the Ministry headquarters in real time. MES COLLABORATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL DONORS -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Tashiyev spoke of his recent trip to Geneva where he met with international organizations to discuss plans to clean up uranium tailings dumps, as well as preparations for the upcoming winter. Tashiyev said he met with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the UN, and other international organizations to discuss options for the proper clearing and disposal of uranium tailings. Tashiyev said he described steps already taken by MES to prepare for winter and the impending energy and food crises. Tashiyev said that schools and hospitals BISHKEK 00000958 002.2 OF 002 were ill-prepared for this winter and that the government was contemplating the idea of closing some schools for up to three months, from late December to early March. He said that his sources told him that the water reserves at the Toktogul Reservoir could run out by February. He said that he planned on working with the international donor community to determine what the Ministry still needed to manage the crises but calculated that an additional $4 million would cover those needs. BEWARE OF HT MEMBERS IN DONORS' CLOTHING -------------- ¶5. (C) Tashiyev expressed concern about donor organizations providing assistance under false pretenses. He said that the government needed to know everything about the humanitarian assistance provided in Kyrgyzstan, requiring information such as where the assistance came from, how it would be delivered, and who would be distributing it. Tashiyev cited the example of the outlawed extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT),which had attempted to provide relief and rebuilding assistance in Kochkor following the December 2006 earthquake. Tashiyev said that the authorities turned away the HT representatives because of the group's status. Tashiyev warned that there was a fair amount of support for HT in the south of Kyrgyzstan, but he said the authorities had no way of measuring just how active the group had become. THE NECESSITY OF RELOCATING MES TO OSH -------------- ¶6. (C) Tashiyev explained the need for moving the Ministry headquarters to Osh and gave Ambassador a tour of their new facilities. Tashiyev said that since the beginning of 2008, over 200 disasters or catastrophic incidents had occurred in the Kyrgyz Republic, with only twenty per cent taking place in the north. With similar statistics in previous years, the Ministry decided to establish its headquarters "where the majority of crises happen." While giving a tour of the headquarters, Tashiyev showed Ambassador the state-of-the-art control center, complete with dozens of computers and several flat-screen TVs to monitor and manage disaster relief efforts. Tashiyev also showed his living quarters, complete with a kitchen and bedroom, allowing him to "live there for days while dealing with a disaster." COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) While cooperation with MES through EXBS, OMC, and USAID has been productive, Tashiyev pressed Ambassador for an increase in U.S. government assistance. Added assistance to this Ministry may prove critical to its abilities in responding to the possible energy and food crises this winter. GFOELLER