Important tasks identified in construction, transport, and ecology

Important tasks identified in construction, transport, and ecology

On January 29, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on priority tasks in housing and communal services, construction, transportation, and ecology.

Large-scale work is being carried out in these areas to create decent conditions and ensure quality of life. Last year, more than 1 thousand infrastructure facilities and about 2 thousand apartment buildings were built in the regions. Roads, water supply, and heating networks have been built. New buses and planes were brought in to expand transport services.

However, many shortcomings remain in implementing modern standards and quality assurance in the construction industry. The drinking water costs and losses in water supply networks have not been reduced. The frequency of domestic air transportation is 2-3 times less than required. Transporting goods by rail takes a long time. The problem of traffic jams in the city of Tashkent is becoming more and more urgent. Not enough measures are being taken to prevent air pollution.

At the meeting, the causes and factors of these problems were analyzed. Disciplinary measures were taken against several officials for shortcomings in their work.

A decision was made to introduce performance indicators (KPIs) into the activities of all ministers and deputy hokims responsible for construction, housing and communal services, transport, and ecology.

This year, as part of the investment program, it is planned to build 1,637 infrastructure facilities. The Head of state drew attention to the need for efficient use of budget funds and ensuring the quality of construction.

Current design and construction practices are based on the resource method. Design organizations try to “inflate” the cost of the object as much as possible. There are cases of theft during construction.

In this regard, a decision was made to reorganize all processes from design to commissioning of the facility. Thus, starting January 1 next year, the volumetric method will be used instead of the resource method when preparing design estimates, construction, and acceptance.

This procedure will be introduced from July 1 this year for projects for constructing roads, drinking water supply facilities, and bridges. To eradicate corruption in these areas, all contract agreements will be digitalized, work performed by the contractor will be financed only based on an electronic invoice submitted to the tax authority, the process of accepting a facility into operation will be digitized, and acceptance certificates will be approved through the national information system “Shaffof Qurilish”. Also, this system will select subcontractors for projects worth more than 10 billion UZS.

This procedure will also apply to projects with the participation of international financial organizations. A system will be created that will allow online tracking of where and how much money is spent on construction materials.

It was emphasized that all calculations and cost-saving measures should be considered at the project development stage. For this purpose, the Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Communal Services will create a project office. When developing projects worth more than 10 billion UZS, the office will evaluate their feasibility, safety, and energy efficiency. The office will also develop standard projects annually for schools, kindergartens, medical institutions, roads, drinking water, and heat supply facilities. From now on, project documents without the recommendation of the Project Office will not be accepted for state examination.

Responsible persons were instructed to update building standards based on foreign experience, suppress the shadow economy in building materials, and launch their electronic classifiers. It was also determined that from January 1, 2025, all purchases from budget funds will be carried out through the “E-ombor” platform of the Tax Committee.

New projects worth $2.5 billion will be launched this year in cooperation with international organizations. It was noted that from now on, the technical and economic justification for such projects will also be subject to mandatory examination.

The system for implementing projects through external borrowing will also change. In this case, the project assessment report and feasibility study will be combined into one project document, reducing the approval process to 8-9 months. It will not be allowed to attract debt for a project for which the feasibility study has not been approved.

Shortcomings in city planning were noted at the meeting. Due to the lack of a systematic approach, the development of social infrastructure, services, and jobs does not occur evenly in all cities. In some cases, disorderly development is allowed, and the streets’ architectural appearance is not considered.

In this regard, the need to strengthen legislation regulating unauthorized and illegal constructions and create a new control system with the participation of relevant agencies was emphasized.

The goal was set to develop master plans for 170 cities and towns this year and at least 300 next year. For this purpose, the “Mening Hududim” platform will be launched, each master plan will be discussed with the population, and public control will be established over its implementation.

The Head of state particularly touched upon the issue of the high cost of new housing, caused by insufficient access of construction companies to financial resources. In this regard, a proposal has been put forward to create a Mortgage Support Fund.

The goal has been set to build 1.8 thousand houses with 80 thousand apartments this year and increase the number of “New Uzbekistan” communities to 45.

During the public utility sector analysis, it was noted that energy losses are high in most apartment buildings. Therefore, a particular energy-saving program in homes will be implemented. A differentiated approach will be applied to heat supply systems for apartment buildings – centralized, local, or individual, and some boiler houses will be converted to cogeneration. Thanks to this, in 2024 alone, it will be possible to save 600 thousand gigacalories of thermal energy and 2.5 billion kilowatts of electricity.

In recent years, $2.5 billion has been raised from international financial organizations as part of 25 projects in drinking water supply. Last year alone, 8 trillion UZS were allocated for this from all sources. This year, it is planned to provide centralized drinking water to another 1.5 million people.

Responsible persons were instructed to update and implement uniform drinking water quality standards at all water supply facilities, modernize pumps, and reduce the cost of supplies.

It was also noted that, as an experiment, private partners would be involved in the water supply to 5 cities – Kagan, Shirin, Yangiyer, Bekabad, and Yangiyul.

The issues of repairing multi-storey buildings and renting out their basements were also discussed. The relevant data will be digitalized and publicly available to residents and entrepreneurs in the “Mening Uyim” (My Home) system.

Measures have been identified to repay loans and reduce the debt of management companies and partnerships.

It was noted that the time has come to introduce a single billing account for payments for electricity, gas, water, heat, waste, and tax payments.

Regarding the transport sector, special attention was paid to increasing public transport coverage. Instructions were given on purchasing new buses and transferring passenger transportation in cities to financing using a gross contract system.

The high share of the shadow economy in road construction and the weak activity of the Transport Inspectorate responsible for this issue were noted. Responsible persons have been instructed to bring more than 40 standards and norms in road construction into compliance with the requirements of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers.

The importance of increasing rail traffic on international routes and increasing the production of freight and passenger cars was emphasized. A decision was made to transfer the Kokand, Samarkand, and Tashkent railway stations, Andijan, and Urgench airports to the private sector. The airfields of Shakhrisabz, Sariasiya, and Kokand will also be repaired, and internal civil air traffic will be organized there.

Instructions were also given to find a solution to the problem of traffic jams and modernize the drainage system in Tashkent city.

A healthy environment is one of the most pressing issues today.

Since 2020, 22 thousand new industrial enterprises have been launched nationwide. Today, more than 2 million tons of pollutants are released into the atmosphere by industrial enterprises and transport. Construction facilities and projects are often implemented without an environmental impact assessment.

In this regard, it was determined that from April 1, a rating of air, water, and environmental pollution by region will be introduced.

The task has been set to begin installing automatic air monitoring stations in Tashkent and Nukus, regional centers, and 20 industrial districts.

Modern gas cleaning and dust collection equipment will be installed at large production facilities, and all cement plants and old gas cleaning and dust collection equipment will be replaced. Construction materials, energy, and metallurgy enterprises will create a “green belt” of 5 hectares around themselves, and 10 million trees will be planted.

Over the next five years, 3 thousand hectares of “green belts” and 200 hectares of parks will be created in Tashkent and neighboring areas of Tashkent region.

In Tashkent, boards and monitors that regularly announce air quality indicators will be installed. Also, the movement of heavy vehicles and cars older than ten years will be gradually limited on the capital’s streets. From January 1, 2025, the issue of abandoning AI-80 gasoline will be resolved.

Measures have been identified to transfer public transport in Tashkent to electricity and gas and increase the metro car fleet. To support green energy, prevent environmental problems, and reduce harmful consequences, a system will be introduced to encourage the population to switch to electric vehicles.

Following the meeting, the Deputy Prime Ministers, ministers, and hokims reported on work plans for the current year.