Bishkek Gets Privately-Funded Facelift

Reporter Nurlan Abdaliev interviews an official from the mayor’s office to find out why the Kyrgyz capital is having so much work spent on prettifying its public spaces.

Bishkek Gets Privately-Funded Facelift

Reporter Nurlan Abdaliev interviews an official from the mayor’s office to find out why the Kyrgyz capital is having so much work spent on prettifying its public spaces.

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Thursday, 15 October, 2009
The wave of construction and renovation in Bishkek really took off this year. Irina Kozlinskaya, who heads the public relations office of the city government, says much of the funding has come from private sponsors rather than the public purse. These sponsors are shy of publicity, and Kozlinskaya said that was why she could not say how much had been spent.



Asked whether the real motive behind the facelift was to “fill in” large public spaces with features and attractions to prevent anti-government protesters gathering there en masse, Kozlinskaya was dismissive, saying this was hardly going to stop demonstrators if they were determined to come out and protest.



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