DUSHANBE, April 29, 2016, Asia-Plus – The Ministry of Culture (MoC) says that not fifteen but only four sites in Dushanbe are considered to be of historical and architectural significance.

“These sites reportedly include the building of the Opera and Ballet Theater, the building of the Parliament, the Ismoili Somoni Memorial Complex (1999), and the Ancient Settlement of Dushanbe (3rd Century BC),” Sherali Khojayev, chief specialist with the MoC Department for Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage, told Asia-Plus in an interview yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported yesterday that the Dushanbe mayor’s office and Russia’s design institute Giprogor have updated the Dushanbe municipal redevelopment plan and 15 sites have been included into the list of sites considered to be of historical and architectural significance:

1.         The Opera and Ballet Theater;

2.         President’s Executive Office;

3.         Parliament;

4.         Firdavsi Library (currently Account Chamber);

5.         ‘Poytakht’ Hotel;

6.         Museum of Local Lore, History and Economy named after Behzod;

7.         Philharmonic Society;

8.         Academy of Sciences;

9.         ‘Rohat’ Teahouse

10.       Tajik Teachers’ Training University;

11.       Tajik Medical University;

12.       Flexible structure residential buildings along the Roudaki Avenue;

13.       Residential buildings opposite the Roudaki Park;

14.       Residential building at the at the 800th Anniversary of Moscow Square;

15.       Kokhi Vahdat State Complex.   

Meanwhile, Asia-Plus has failed to find this list on the website of the Dushanbe mayor’s office.

We will recall that recall that plans to demolish some of the most popular landmarks in Dushanbe have sparked outrage.  In a desperate bid to halt the destruction, hundreds of city residents in October last year signed an online petition addressed to President Emomali Rahmon and Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev.  The petition drew more than 600 signatures in the first day alone.

Reacting to a wave of Internet grumbling, Nourali Saidzoda, First Deputy Head of the Committee for Construction and Architecture under the Government of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus that time that the buildings selected for demolition were of negligible value and needed replacing with modern hi-tech substitutes.