DUSHANBE , February 4, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Today, Tajikistan ought to focus on construction of small hydropower plants and not to waste time over solution of the Roghun hydroelectric power station (HPS) problem.

Mr. Michael Jones, UN Coordination and UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan, and Mr. Ben Slay, Senior Economist, Bratislava Regional Center, UNDP, remarked this in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to Mr. Slay, the Roghun hydroelectricity project can be implemented in 10-15 years.   Somebody agrees with construction of the station, somebody not, but not this issue should be topical today, he said.   “There ought to think about energy saving problems as well, because as far as I know, Tajikistan has serious power losses in its power systems,” the UNDP official said, noting that under conditions of the global financial crisis, investment in the construction of large facilities such as Roghun may lead to budget deficits.

The UN Coordination and UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan , Mr. Michael Jones, noted that the construction of facilities such as the Roghun HPS should be coordinated with neighboring countries because such a large reservoir may create water supply problems for downstream countries.

“Today, the United Nations cannot say who is right in this dispute over the construction of the Roghun station,” said Mr. Slay, “It is necessary to conduct an appropriate procedure.   There is a special UN Water Convention that provides for procedure of settlement of disputes that may arise.   There is the UN Economic Commission in Geneva , which has an experience in solution of such problems.   I know that the governments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan applied to this Commission.   However, to hand down ruling on this dispute, the Commission has to do a lot of work.   Therefore, as I said earlier, at present there ought to focus on the construction of small power plants as well as rehabilitation of the Norak HPS.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Jones noted that the United Nations was ready to fund construction of a number of small power plants in Tajikistan .   “According to information I have, the Government of Tajikistan plans to construct some 50 small hydropower plants on the internal rivers this year under support of international organizations and due investments of foreign countries; it would be good,” the UN Coordination and UNDP Resident Representative said.