The Tharwa Review

CENTRAL ASIA SEES LEAN YEAR AHEAD

Plague of locusts, water shortages and rising food prices conspire against a region where life is tough at the best of times.
By IWPR staff in Central Asia

Already struggling with shortages of water and electricity and the impact of global food price rises, Central Asia has been hit by yet another curse - a plague of locusts that adds to other threats to the region's ability to feed itself.

Parts of the region, especially Tajikistan in the south, suffer from locust invasions on an almost annual basis. This year, an unusually warm spring is being blamed for the intensive reproduction cycle of the Moroccan locust species.

Even though the winter was exceptionally cold across the region, the weather subsequently became so hot that vegetation rapidly dried out, forcing the swarms to migrate more rapidly than normally to satisfy their constant hunger.

As a result, there are fears that efforts to contain the spread of the insects will be inadequate and they will cause significant to crops.

In Kazakstan, the latest data indicate that the locust infestation has already damaged 200,000 hectares of land in the South Kazakstan region. Here it is livestock breeders who have been worst affected, forced to sell off their animals because the locusts destroyed their forage crops.

FEARS OF CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN KURDISTAN

Officials concerned series of gastric infections may signal outbreak of killer disease.
By Azeez Mahmood in Sulaimaniyah

A rash of patients hospitalised with diarrhoea and vomiting in northern Iraq has raised fears of a cholera outbreak across the region.

In April, the main hospital in Sulaimaniyah received an average of 25 patients per day with such symptoms –which are very similar to those associated with cholera.

While no cases of the disease have been confirmed, officials are worried.

"We have serious fears of a cholera outbreak," said Ziryan Osman, Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, health minister.

According to statistics from Sulaimaniyah general hospital, around 400 patients were admitted with diarrhoea and vomiting in April –a big leap from the 260 cases in March.

Cholera is a potentially deadly water-borne illness that causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to infection.

RESILIENT TB STRAINS THRIVE IN KYRGYZSTAN

SPECIAL REPORT: Unsound medication practices are creating increasingly incurable strains of tuberculosis, in a society ill-equipped to cope.
By Andreas Hedfors in Bishkek

If you catch tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, the risk is higher than anywhere else in the world that it is a strain resistant to the best drugs available.

The main sources of drug-resistant TB strains in the world – abbreviated therapy and insufficient medication –have become almost routine practice in the Kyrgyz healthcare system. The resulting hardier strains of TB become extremely difficult to treat and spread in the community.

"I am pretty much immune to all of the drugs I am taking now, except Kanamycin," said Mikhail, 38, one of an estimated 1,300 to 3,500 people in Kyrgyzstan now suffering from drug-resistant or even multi-drug resistant (known as MDR) tuberculosis.

After ten years of donor engagement, Kyrgyzstan is slowly getting the upper hand in the battle against the standard tuberculosis virus. These efforts have stabilised and brought down the annual incidence of new cases from 128 per 100,000 people to 109 over a period of seven years.

But according to the preliminary findings of a World Health Organisation, WHO, committee, 26 per cent of the new cases recorded in Bishkek in 2007 were resistant to at least the two most powerful TB drugs —Isoniazid and Rifampicin.

This statistic is the worst ever recorded for drug-resistant TB. A recent WHO report listed Azerbaijan's capital Baku and Moldova as having the highest incidence of MDR strains, at 22 and 19 per cent, respectively. Several countries were left out of the study due to lack of reliable data.

TAJIK-KYRGYZ WATER CLASH A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

Unclear borders and poor communications blamed for latest dispute over water resources.
By Yrys Kadykeev in Bishkek and Jamila Majidova in Dushanbe

Kyrgyzstan and its neighbour Tajikistan are caught up in a diplomatic spat after a local clash erupted on the two countries’ shared border over access to water.

Although the two countries generally enjoy good relations, this dispute reflects the vital importance of water in Central Asia – exacerbated by the lack of clarity about where exactly international borders lie.

The incident began on the evening of March 26 on the border of Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken district and Isfara in Tajikistan. About 150 Tajiks, accompanied by their district government chief and police officers crossed what, according to Kyrgyzstan at least, is the border.

Equipped with a digger, they proceeded to try to destroy a dam that was blocking an irrigation canal that feeds the land around the Tajik village of Hoja Alo as well as areas on the Kyrgyz side.

At this point, Kyrgyz border guards arrived on the scene, and according to a statement they issued later, "assumed combat positions" and scared the Tajiks away.

Tensions appeared to ease after Kyrgyz officials arrived and agreed to open the dam and resume the flow of water into Tajikistan.

But the Kyrgyz border service reported another incident the following day, when another 150 or so villagers accompanied by frontier guards from Tajikistan crossed the border again. This time they started trying to clear the channel of the Isfara river.

TAJIKS DISPUTE BENEFITS OF HUNTING

Scientists warn that many species are under threat, as local communities have no stake in face extinction as a result of poorly regulated hunts and poachers.
By Nafisa Pisarejeva in Dushanbe

Ecologists in Tajikistan are warning that some wild animal species are under threat because local communities do not benefit from legal hunting and are forced by poverty to engage in poaching.

Scientists presented a set of grim findings to a meeting on biodiversity and the effects of hunting, held in the Tajik capital Dushanbe in early March The meeting was organised jointly by Volunteers for Nature Preservation, a local non-government group, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Snow Leopard Trust, which lobbies on behalf of this highly endangered big cat.

Tajikistan is an important country in terms of wildlife diversity, with over 90 per cent of its territory covered by great mountain ranges where some peaks tower over 7,000 metres. The diversity of the natural environment has allowed many rare species to survive here.

Tajik scientists warn that many species have declined both in range and numbers in recent decades. At least 160 animal species are now under threat, in a country where tigers and local species of marmot and sturgeon have disappeared within the last 50 years.

This year brought another blow - an abnormally cold and long winter that froze rivers and open stretches of water, killing rare cormorants, ducks, otters and jungle cats in national parks.

Given the deteriorating habitat, scientists are voicing concern about the devastating effects of poaching, and complain that local communities have been given no stake in wildlife survival as they see none of the income the country earns from authorised hunting.

FEARS OF GM CROP INVASION IN KYRGYZSTAN

Unregulated imports of genetically modified seeds and foods raise concerns about public health and biodiversity.
By Asyl Osmonalieva in Bishkek

Kyrgyz environmentalists are worried by the unrestricted import of genetically modified products and are urging the government to come up with robust policies.

They say that while the rest of the world hotly debates the benefits and risks of genetically modified, GM, crops, the Kyrgyz authorities have said and done nothing.

The authorities did in fact address the issue in the summer of 2006, when the government produced a draft law on biodiversity which was intended to address the import and production of GM products.

But when the draft went to parliament, deputies returned it in January 2007, saying it needed improvement.

Gennady Vorobyev, a genetic engineering expert who was one of those who drafted the bill, said the failure to pass it left a legal black hole.

"All the provisions needed to regulate the import of goods containing GM components were detailed in our draft law," he said. "Since parliament has returned it for revision, there is now no legislative foundation and consequently no systematic state control over genetically modified imports."

KYRGYZ GREENS WARN OF DEFORESTATION RISKS

Ecologists warn that if logging continues unabated in Kyrgyzstan, the whole of Central Asia will face dire consequences.
By Parvina Hamidova in Bishkek

Environmentalists in Kyrgyzstan are raising the alarm over the speed with which this Central Asian country is losing its forests.

In the last 50 years, the former Soviet republic has lost more than half its forests, and experts are warning that if logging continues at the current rate, the whole Central Asian region will suffer from a scarcity of water, health problems and more frequent natural disasters.

The stark warnings come from the Kyrgyz government’s own Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry, in data published in early February.

Ecologists say forests in Kyrgyzstan play a key role in the ecosystem of Central Asia.

Among other things, they help cleanse the atmosphere of carbonic acid, one of the principal factors triggering the so-called greenhouse effect.

They also prevent soil erosion and are vital in helping to retain water in a generally arid part of the world.

POWER CUTS LEAVE HELMAND SHIVERING

Helmand residents angry at acute electricity shortages, as bitter cold weather plagues region.
By Mohammad Elyas Dayee and Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Helmand

An unusual cold snap combined with an almost total power blackout has left Helmand residents shivering in their homes.

Most of households, even in the capital, Lashkar Gah, have no electricity at all. Others get it for no more than an hour or two per day - just enough to turn on their water pumps to fill their cisterns.

Even government offices are affected. Work in some places is almost at a standstill, while the local media is unable to broadcast much of the time.

"For God’s sake, what kind of a government this is?" asked Sharafudin, who lives in Lashkar Gah. "Forty different nations have a presence in our country. Have they only come for fighting here? Or do they want to create an opportunity for us to have a good life?"

His complaint is echoed around the province. Many blame central government and international military forces for not fixing the problem.

Helmand’s governor, Assadullah Wafa, told IWPR that he had personally taken the matter up with the capital, "I recently traveled to Kabul to complain to the energy minister about our lack of regular electricity."

IRAQ BRACED FOR MORE CHOLERA OUTBREAKS

Disease currently contained, but experts say it will probably break out again in summer.
By Emad al-Shara' in Baghdad

Health experts are warning that the country could be hit by new cases of cholera once temperatures start to rise.

The government said its last cholera case was recorded in late November and has credited a public-awareness campaign and the colder winter temperatures for halting the spread of the disease. However, doctors warn that cholera could recur as summer approaches because of poor sanitation.

Adil Abdul-Muhsin, general inspector at the ministry of health, said that Iraq suffered its worst bout of cholera for the forty years, with 4,691 cases, resulting in 24 fatalities.

Deputy Health Minister Amir al-Khuza'i said the ministry of health has "totally controlled the disease".

"There aren’t any cholera cases in Baghdad or in any other provinces," he said.

But doctors say it’s only a matter of time before the disease reappears.

"Nothing can prevent a cholera outbreak next summer," said Ni'man Mohammad, a physician in Baghdad.

TURKMEN ENERGY EXTRACTION THREATENS ENVIRONMENT

Experts call for new energy projects to be accompanied with transparent monitoring of their environmental effects.
By IWPR staff in Central Asia

Deals to increase extraction of Turkmen hydrocarbons are being done behind closed doors, with no information available on measures taken to protect the environment, say analysts.

Environmentalists are calling for the authorities in energy-rich Turkmenistan, which ranks fourth in the world for natural gas extraction, to conduct independent monitoring of the damage to the environment caused by extraction and processing, and to make information on this publicly available.

Apart from the state oil and gas producer, there are also 48 foreign firms involved in developing sites under production-sharing agreements, including Dubai-based Dragon Oil, Malaysian government owned Petronas, Denmark’s Maersk and the German Wintershall.

While these foreign investors have to meet certain environmental obligations, the terms of their contracts are confidential and inaccessible to the public.