VZCZCXRO0491
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHEK #0160/01 0550434
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240434Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1837
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1251
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3292
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2678
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000160 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL KG
SUBJECT: GENERATORS FOR KYRGYZSTAN:  THANKS, CAN WE HAVE 
SOME MORE? 
 
BISHKEK 00000160  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  With Kyrgyzstan facing rolling blackouts 
this winter due to low water levels in the main hydropower 
reservoir, USAID has provided back-up generators to 58 
hospitals throughout the country.  On February 18-19, Poloff 
and USAID FSN visited the Talas region to inspect the 
installation of generators at four hospitals and to conduct a 
ribbon-cutting ceremony aimed at solidifying the local 
government's commitment to maintaining the generators.  We 
found the generators present, installed, and in use, but 
concerns regarding security and administrative control may 
inhibit their full effectiveness.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Background:  Where is Talas? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Talas Oblast is in the northwest of Kyrgyzstan, 
bordering Kazakhstan.  In good weather, Talas city is only a 
five-hour drive through the Ala-Too mountains from Bishkek. 
But in bad weather, the internal route's two passes of 3600 
and 3300 meters are often blocked by snow, leaving only a 
route through Kazakhstan as a means of communication with the 
capital.  Talas's geographic openness to Kazakhstan, and its 
tenuous connection to the rest of Kyrgyzstan, is one factor 
behind this region's strong cultural affinity with 
Kazakhstan.  Unlike the Kyrgyz regions bordering Tajikistan, 
Uzbekistan, and China, one rarely hears residents express 
concern about the influence of their neighbor.  Instead, the 
more common complaint is that the educated professionals of 
Talas are all working in Kazakhstan -- in some cases, 
commuting across the border on a daily basis.  To all 
appearances, the border is more administrative than cultural. 
 
 
Generators:  Too Nice to Use? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Poloff and USAID FSN visited Talas oblast to 
inspect the installation of USAID-provided generators at four 
hospitals, and to conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony aimed at 
solidifying the local government's commitment to maintaining 
the generators.  (Note:  With Kyrgyzstan experiencing 
periodic power cuts this winter, USAID provided 59 generators 
in January to 58 hospitals throughout Kyrgyzstan to help them 
maintain medical services during power outages.  End note.) 
In pleasant contrast to Poloff's dark and frigid hotel room, 
the Talas hospitals were warm, clean, and well-lit, although 
their physical plants were generally deteriorating.  Poloff 
and FSN viewed limited portions of the hospitals, and little 
modern technology was in evidence -- Poloff did not observe a 
single computer in any hospital office. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Owing to the relatively mild winter, and the 
priority given to hospitals in energy outages, the hospitals 
reported minimal generator use, ranging from zero to 20 hours 
over the past month.  Three out of the four hospitals had the 
generator set to turn on automatically when the power went 
out, and reported no problems.  At the fourth hospital, the 
administrator told us that fuel was too expensive to run the 
generator every time the power went out, so the hospital 
staff had to call the hospital electrician to turn on the 
generator if they needed power.  While Poloff and FSN were 
inspecting the generator, the hospital's chief doctor came 
out and complained angrily to the administrator, saying that 
he had been performing an emergency operation when the power 
went out, and the electrician had not arrived until the 
operation was over.  He requested a generator key from the 
administrator, so that he could turn it on himself, but the 
administrator placidly told him to bring it up later, and 
when he was gone, commented to Poloff and FSN that "he's 
always complaining about something." 
 
¶5. (SBU)  All of the hospitals appeared to value the 
generators, but made tradeoffs between their effective use 
 
BISHKEK 00000160  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
and keeping them secure.  Two of the hospitals had situated 
the generators appropriately -- far enough away from the 
hospital building that the noise and the fumes from the 
generator would not bother patients and staff.  The other two 
had placed the generators immediately adjacent to the 
hospital, and one of them placed the generator in an inside 
corner of the U-shaped hospital building, ensuring that the 
generator exhaust would enter any open hospital windows. 
When questioned on that point, the hospital administrator 
said that for security reasons, the generator had to be 
located there -- otherwise the security guard would not be 
able to observe it directly, and it might be stolen or 
vandalized. 
 
Appreciation for U.S. Assistance 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  At a ribbon cutting ceremony in the village of 
Kyzyl Adyr, attended by the regional akim (local government 
administrator), a deputy oblast governor, local press, and 
about 30 onlookers, Poloff gave remarks outlining the 
generator program and past U.S. Government assistance to 
Kyrgyzstan in the medical field.  In their remarks, local 
officials extolled the generators as an example of the United 
States' reliability in providing tangible humanitarian 
assistance to Kyrgyzstan, and also applauded the efforts of a 
Peace Corps Volunteer working on medical education in the 
district. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  During the hospital tour following the ceremony, 
the chief doctor carefully pointed out the hospital's unmet 
needs, including one place where the building was literally 
falling apart, and handed us a letter detailing the 
hospital's budget shortfalls.  The officials also asked why 
some hospitals in the region had received generators, but one 
had not.  The USAID FSN responded that USAID had allocated 
generators based on a list provided by the Ministry of 
Health.  The group expressed the hope that the remaining 
hospital would receive a generator in the future. 
 
Towards a Greater Kyrgyzstan 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  After the ceremony, the district akim hosted 
Poloff, FSN and local dignitaries at a cafe.  While 
participants generally deferred to the akim, conversation was 
boisterous.  Asked about local relations with Kazakhstan, the 
akim replied, with general approbation from the company, that 
prior to the Soviets' creation of Central Asian nationalities 
in the early 20th century, all of Kazakhstan had been Kyrgyz. 
 Other participants chimed in:  one claimed that Tashkent had 
originally been a Kyrgyz city; the Deputy Governor cited a 
linguistic study showing that the Japanese language was 
descended from Kyrgyz; and others advanced theories that 
everyone from Native Americans to Germans had descended from 
the Kyrgyz.  The last proved too much, and a hospital 
administrator interjected:  "No, no, no:  I don't mind being 
related to the Japanese, but not to the Germans!" 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Eventually addressing the question at a more 
prosaic level, the akim said that there were many Kazakhs 
living in Talas.  Aside from a slight variation in language, 
the difference between Kazakh and Kyrgyz was more a matter of 
where one happened to live when the borders were drawn, and 
not so much a question of nationality.  The 
tea-and-fruit-juice meal concluded with a Muslim prayer, and 
Poloff was impressed by their piety, until he learned that in 
an aside prior to the meal, the FSN had gently steered the 
akim away from opening bottles of vodka, with the explanation 
that "Americans can't drink while on duty." 
GFOELLER