Small Bridge A Big Connection For Isolated Tajikistan Villages

Dushanbe, Tajikistan (AHN) - When finished, the new 241-meter bridge will not be spectacular - but it connects rural communities in one of the poorest regions of Tajikistan, the smallest and poorest nation in Central Asia with a predominantly agricultural economy and a population of about 7 million.

Flooding in 2006 washed away the only bridge within 80 kilometers (50 miles) in the Rasht district, northeast Tajikistan, carrying an average of 300 vehicles a day across the Surkhob River.

The new bridge will be built with the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction providing $2 million of the $2.369 million project managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Tajikistan will cover the balance.

With 93 percent of its territory covered by mountains and landlocked, Tajikistan is heavily dependent on road transport, which accounts for about 80 percent of total freight and 90 percent of passenger movements.

With an annual per capital gross domestic product of $236 and an average poverty incidence of about 64 percent in 2006, Tajikistan has little to spare for investments on and maintenance of rural roads.

Maintenance is essential as Tajikistan is predisposed to frequent floods, snowfall, landslides, and other extreme climatic events, the ADB said. The rural poor rely heavily on roads, bridges, and river and stream crossings in order to undertake basic economic and social activities.