Even In Capital City, Tajikistan Down To 2-3 Hours Of Electricity Daily

[hatrack]

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The poorest of all the ex-Soviet Central Asian states with a population of 7.5 million, Tajikistan is in the midst of a massive energy crisis that has caused chronic shortages even in the capital Dushanbe. The collapse of Soviet-era infrastructure, a dispute with neighbouring Uzbekistan and lack of investment in the energy sector after independence have paralyzed the country's electricity grid.

The shortages are just one of the problems facing the country high in the Pamir mountains, the only Persian-speaking state in the otherwise Turkic ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia. Its debt-ridden economy is massively dependent on remittances sent by Tajik manual workers employed abroad which according to the International Monetary Fund account for 45 percent of GDP. Earlier this month think-tank International Crisis Group issued a report warning that Tajikistan, which shares a large and porous border with war-torn Afghanistan, was in danger of becoming a 'failed state'.

'How do we live? Well, probably like everyone else it could be better and it could be worse,' said Gulshan Nuraliyeva, 38, a nurse and mother of four who lives in a single room that functions as the family home. 'We can run this little generator more frequently now -- for an hour and a half a night -- because the global financial crisis has made petrol a tiny bit cheaper in our country,' she said.

A move earlier this month by Tashkent to halve gas deliveries forced Dushanbe to implement an even more stringent energy rationing scheme than before, plunging much of the country into darkness for all but two hours a day. Even in some areas in and around the capital Dushanbe, electricity is only available for two hours a day or less, and gas only to those lucky enough to afford it.

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http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=29239&ccid=18

[phantom power]

1. Nega-watts!

:woohoo: