Dushanbe: Tayikistan has introduced prison sentences of 10 years for the illegal use of electricity, as an energy crisis of decades caused by the shortage of water worsens in the poor country of Central Asia.
The consumption of electricity in Tayikistan is limited for approximately six months per year, since its outdated energy infrastructure struggles to stay up to date with the growing demand.
The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the country announced on Saturday measures to introduce “criminal responsibility for violations of regulations on the use of electricity.”
In a sign of how closely the country controls the press and the flow of information, it was only informed by the independent media on Monday.
According to the new rules, anyone found that trying to disconnect or avoid an electricity meter will face up to 10 years in prison.
The former Soviet Tayikistan is governed by President Emomali Rakhmon, a former head of the state farm who has had power since 1992.
The Minister of Justice, Rustam Shoemurod, said at the beginning of April that those who alter the readings of the meters or avoid them to avoid payments are “seriously damaging the economic interests of the country.”
The water scarcity necessary to feed hydroelectric plants, which generate about 95% of the production of electricity in Tayikistan, has led to years of regular energy cuts.
In March, Rakhmon said he was concerned about the irrational use of electricity in the country of Central Asia, where the average salary is less than $ 240.
He is pushing the colossal Hydrogun Hydro energy plant as a possible solution to the power crisis.
First imagined in the 1970s under the Soviet Union, it was beaten with setbacks due to Soviet collapse and the Tayika civil war in the 1990s.
Rakhmon's plan, revived in the 2000s, has been harassed by balloon costs, estimated at more than $ 6 billion.
