DUSHANBE, January 19, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Old houses located in the center of Dushanbe will be demolished gradually and high-rise apartment buildings will be constructed instead of them, Abduvali Komilov, the director of the Agency for Construction and Architecture, told a news conference in Dushanbe on January 19.

According to him, it is expedient to construct high-rise buildings in Dushanbe.  “Even 25-story apartment buildings are expected to be constructed in the Tajik capital and owners of the condemned houses will receive apartments of equal worth in new residential buildings,” Komilov noted.

The official stressed that construction of high-rise buildings posed no threat because all the built facilities would undergo examination of seismic stability.

Komilov added that the National Public Library, the National Museum, the Serena Hotel Dushanbe, the Somoni Hotel and Children’s Park in Dushanbe would be finished by the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s Independence that would be marked on September 9, 2011.