Homeless Kyrgyz Complain About Slow Pace Of Reconstruction

The Cheremushki district of Osh in March

OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Dozens of residents in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh have protested delays in the reconstruction of their homes destroyed during deadly clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz last year, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

The residents of Osh's Cheremushki district told RFE/RL that although the first phase of reconstruction is finished in other parts of the city, no construction materials have yet been delivered to Cheremushki, where 283 homes were destroyed during the unrest.

Cheremushki resident Nazira Khasanova told RFE/RL the authorities promised to start laying foundations for new houses in their district in June, but the process had not yet begun.

She said the municipal authorities say they're waiting for architects to finalize the plans for the reconstruction.

RFE/RL's attempts to contact Osh Architecture and Urban Planning Department head Nurbek Bayetov or one of his deputies were unsuccessful.

The ethnic clashes in June 2010 led to some 470 deaths and left thousands of people homeless as hundreds of homes and businesses were burnt and destroyed.

Read more in Kyrgyz here and in Russian here