DUSHANBE, November 16, 2015 Asia-Plus -- Construction of the University of Central Asia’s (UCA) campus in Khorog, Tajikistan is reportedly on schedule for an accelerated September 2017 opening.

“We were originally scheduled to complete Phase I construction in 2018 but are now aiming to open the campus one year earlier, in 2017,” Director of Construction and Facilities Grant Robertson said after a recent visit to the site, where he congratulated the construction team for their timely and high quality work.

The Khorog campus is one of three campuses being built by UCA across the region.  When fully operational, UCA will have campuses in Khorog, Tajikistan; in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan and in Tekeli, Kazakhstan. The Naryn campus is scheduled to open in September 2016 and the Tekeli campus, currently in the detailed design stage, is anticipated to open in 2019.

UCA’s in-house innovative and inclusive Agency Construction Management strategy is reportedly designed to maximize the socioeconomic benefits of an $285 million investment to the University’s host communities and establish best practices related to efficiency and sustainability.  Under the strategy, UCA engages and manages several contractors, each handling a specific scope of work.  This allows for more control over operations and more flexibility in appointing contractors, increasing the potential for local economic impact through use of local contractors and suppliers.

It is no accident therefore that the University’s permanent construction management onsite team of engineers and managers is fully recruited from Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), of which Khorog is the capital, UCA noted.  As many as 95 percent of the construction workers currently onsite and over 20 contractors are also from the region.  Contractors from outside the region also have a local economic obligation.  For example, the sub and superstructure contractor, Turas, which is a Turkish-Tajik joint venture, is tax registered in Khorog and so will other overseas contractors engaged in the construction process.

“I used to work in Russia to try to feed my family here in Khorog, but I was not successful.  This summer, I found the same work I had done in Moscow at the UCA construction site with Turas.  I realized that it is possible to make a living here, near my home.  For the first time, I am making a living and seeing my family every day.  Working at UCA has changed my life,” said stutterer and rebar fitter Faridoun Khudobakhshov.

In addition to offering steady employment, UCA provides workers at the construction site with access to international standard welfare facilities and subsidized meals.  A Khorog-based company was awarded the contract to serve nearly 600 meals daily.

The preparatory site works, valued at $7 million, were also contracted to Khorog-based companies.  Many workers currently on site are graduates of UCA’s Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) apprentice-based program.  Located at a state-of-the-art facility built by apprentices, TVET has enrolled 590 students to date. Workers also benefit from on-the-job training at the construction site, acquiring transferable skills.

UCA has installed on-site construction equipment, including a batching plant that was transported from the Naryn construction site.  The University is also using locally sourced materials, including stone and sand for the site’s concrete that was generated from onsite quarried and crushed raw stone.

Work on the recruitment of UCA’s first cohort of undergraduate students is already advancing. The first two academic programs at the Khorog campus will be Bachelor’s degrees in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Economics, complementing Computer Sciences and Media and Communications at Naryn.  The University’s Mountain Societies Research Institute, which is dedicated to addressing challenges and opportunities within Central Asian mountain communities, will be relocated at the Khorog campus from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

At a total capital cost of $94.4 million, Phase I construction of the Khorog campus is being funded by a $64.4 million commitment from the Aga Khan Development Network, including $7.5 million from the Aga Khan Foundation, and a long-term soft loan of $30 million from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the United States Government’s development finance institution.