If a tree falls in Dushanbe …

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-140314.html



If a tree falls in Dushanbe …
By EurasiaNet
Mar 14, '14

Back when it was called Stalinabad, former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin reportedly took a personal interest in the greening of his namesake city, now known as Dushanbe. A massive tree-planting initiative accordingly created a green canopy to shade the capital from Tajikistan's scorching summers. Today, authorities are cutting down those Stalin-era trees and replacing them with over US$4.5 million worth of imports from Belgium.

This isn't only a story about trees, of course. For many Dushanbe residents, the mass felling of sycamores lining the city's central boulevards touches a raw nerve, generating anger about not being consulted on the landscaping changes, and heightening concerns about corruption. Many are scratching their heads, asking a couple of basic questions: Why the need for imported trees in a country with rampant poverty? And who might be profiting?

Since November, the Dushanbe mayor's office has imported 3,000 mature chestnut trees from Belgium at a cost of 22 million somoni (about $4.5 million), a spokesman for the office confirmed to EurasiaNet.org. The Ozodagon news agency, concerned some of the city funds may have been squandered in the process, pointed out on March 3 that each tree is worth the equivalent of monthly pension payments for 37 Tajik retirees.

There's no data on how many trees have already been cut down along Aini, Bohtar and other thoroughfares, but Abdusattor Kholov, head of the municipal department responsible for planting the trees, contends that the Belgian chestnuts are doing well.