DUSAHNBE, November 22, Asia-Plus - Adequate provision of population with electric power is an important issue and the government takes efforts to resolve this problem, Energy Minister Abdullo Yorov remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe today.  The news conference was dedicated to a two-day forum formally entitled “Strategy of Sustainable Use of Energy Resources for Villages” staged by Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP). 

Speaking to journalists, the minister noted that some 50 percent of Tajikistan population lives in remote mountain areas.  “At present rural population in the country receives only 50 percent of the necessary amount of electricity, and the country introduces electricity rationing” Yorov said.  

According to him, the government undertakes efforts to resolve the energy problem.  Thus, over the past six years, Tajikistan has increased extraction of coal from 16,000 to 100,000 tons, according to the minister.  

Yorov said that in October, the government endorsed a log-term program for the construction of small power plants in the country.  The program will be implemented in three stages.  The first stage (2007-2010) includes the construction of 17 small plants that will funded at the expense of grants and loans provided by the Government of Japan, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  The second stage is designed for 2010-2015 and the third stage for 2015-2020.  In total, 71 small power plants with a total capacity of 50 megawatt and annual generation of 500 million kWh are expected to be constructed in the country under this program.  

The forum that opened today is aiming consider Tajikistan’s national energy development program and a regional strategy on energy supply in Central Asia.   The main objective of the event is in discussing the ways of strengthening of a network pf organizations dealing with promoting sustainable development of mountain areas in Central Asia and initiating multilateral political dialogue.  

The forum participants include some 120 representatives from village communities, national and regional NGOs, state and business structures, as well as specialists and researchers.  

CAMP is a program financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Center for Development and Environment (CDE).  Launched in 2000 as a long-term program, CAMP is planned to last for at least 10 – 15 years.  This program promotes sustainable mountain development by encouraging an economically, ecologically and socially more sustainable use of resources among different stakeholders in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.  In the long term, sustainable management of mountain resources will lead to better living conditions in these countries. CAMP works in four closely interconnected fields: sustainable use of resources; product development and marketing; village development and policy dialogue.

CAMP pursues a bottom-up approach focusing on energy saving and demand-side management.  This CAMP approach is tailored to the needs of rural mountain regions; focuses on local human resources (capacity building for local trades people) and technical resources (locally available insulation material); has, in collaboration with SECO (Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs), broadened its focus to include the energy demands of the local population in addition to the strategies of state energy supply agencies.