DUSHANBE, April 18, Asia-Plus -- On April 5-8, the British Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mr Graeme Loten, led an Embassy delegation on a four-day visit to Sughd’s Panjakent and Ayni districts.

The visits focussed on the progress made so far with the Zarafshon Valley Development Initiative which is a programme financed by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by UNDP.  This program aims at fulfilling the priority needs of local people in the three districts of the Zarafshon Valley through funds which are delegated to resource centres at the jamoat level.

Amongst the major achievements of this program so far was the reconstruction of a major bridge connecting the settlement of Zerafshon-1 to the main Dushanbe-Khujand road, which had remained out of use for almost 15 years.  This bridge was officially reopened during the visit by Mr. Shodiqul Bobojonov, Chairman of Ayni district and the British Ambassador in the presence of most of the inhabitants of the settlement.  It had been reconstructed with the support of $28,000 from the British Government’s program, a contribution of $10,000 from the Anzob ore company and the participation of many local people.

In addition the Ambassador and his delegation were also able to see smaller projects such as the provision of drinking water, the installation of a new electricity transformer, and the building of a dam to keep floodwaters from destroying people’s houses and fields. “The great advantage of this programme is that it really involves people at the grass roots level” said Mr Loten during his visit. “They all have a say in indicating their main priorities and they all contribute in implementing the project through their own hard work or by providing local materials. By using relatively small amounts of money we have been able to make a big difference to people’s lives.”

The Zarafshon Valley Development Initiative also has an important micro-loan component, it attempts to channel some of the funds sent back by migrant workers into community projects, and it and also organises training and seminars aimed at raising people’s awareness of issues like HIV/AIDS.

In addition to visiting this program, the British Ambassador also held detailed discussions with the mayors of both Panjakent and Ayni and discussed the prospects for developing local tourism, especially in the light of the forthcoming 1,150th anniversary of the poet Rudaki. Mr Loten also met with representatives of civil society in the region, visited three schools, and paid a visit to the studios of independent TV station TV Simo in Panjakent.