QURGHON TEPPA, January 23, Asia-Plus -- Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov attended a meeting of Khatlon Hukumat that was held in Qurghon Teppa on January 19.  The meeting was held to sum up the region’s economic results in 2005.  The meeting also focused on resumption of activity of heating supply system in Qurghon Teppa, capital of Khatlon Province.  

The prime minister demanded at the meeting that the problem of providing the city population with heating should be solved before 2008. 

Qurghon Teppa Mayor Nasrulloyev, for his part, noted that program on the Qurghon Teppa heating supply system was currently being worked out.  Under this program it is supposed to introduce an individual system of supply of the city with heating (installation of separate boiler-house for each residential building), according to the mayor.  

The Khatlon governor Amirsho Miraliyev telling the meeting harshly criticized work of the regional trade unions.  He, in particular, noted that the local trade unions were not cooperating with local authorities on the issues of paying wages to employees.  Miraliyev also expressed dissatisfaction with work of the regional post office.  He also called activities of “Tojik Telecom” in the region unsatisfactory, noting that the “Tajik Telecom” branches in Khatlon do not pay the retail trading tax.  

Speaking on the state of the industrial sector in the region, Miraliyev dwelled on activity of the Qurghon Teppa transformer-producing plant. “Since the plant was transferred from jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy, it has been working at a loss,” said the Khatlon governor, “The Ministry of Energy is not developing the plant and it even has not yet paid its debts to the plant.”

In this connection, Oqilov ordered the Ministry of Energy to take urgent measures to develop the plant’s activity as well as consider and submit suggestions on the completion of the construction of the second line of the plant, which has stood idle over the last 15 years.