DUSHANBE, January 18, Asia-Plus - Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev presided over a meeting of the mayor’s office on January 18.  The meeting was held to sum up the city’s socioeconomic results in 2006.  

The mayor sharply criticized the municipal agencies in charge of providing electricity and natural gas for failing to take adequate measures to provide the city with gas and electrical power. 

According to the mayor, the rate of the collection of funds from the public and enterprises evokes concern.  “Last year, the rate of the collection of funds for natural gas was very low; moreover, the city’s heating plant, having completely paid for gas consumed, accounted for 95 percent of funds for gas that were collected last year,” Ubaidulloyev stressed.  

In this connection, Mansour Sharipov was relieved of the post of head of the city gas company Dushanbegaz.  

The mayor also sacked the Dushanbe electric systems head Abdukarim Miraliyev and heads of a number of facilities in charge of providing public utilities.   

Ubaidulloyev also dismissed the Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Industry, Abdukarim Abdurahimov.  

Heads of all enterprises in charge of providing public transport services were also removed for failing to provide regular work of the public transport in the city and delaying work on repairing trolleybus lines.  The work on repairing the trolleybus lines started only in December while 1.3 million somonis were provided for repairs to the lines in the beginning of last year already, according to the mayor.   

The mayor demanded at the meeting that the situation should be put right in the shortest time and set precise tasks to remove the existing shortcomings.