Translation of Mashrab’s post (RUS)

On 1 March, Uzbekistan’s Emergency Control Ministry celebrated the 15th anniversary of its founding by holding a press conference.

Statistics always lie, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on them. Instead, I’m going to quote the Ministry’s representative, who put on a very serious face as he read out various facts and figures from a sheet.

According to his statement, the Ministry currently has as its disposal a Rapid Response Center and a Search and Rescue Squad called “Kamchik.” The latter’s work is particularly important, since the Ministry is responsible for securing the Tashkent-Fergana Valley highway, which is the only transport artery for military forces and thus a strategically vital site.

At first glance, the professionalism of this organization seems beyond doubt. As we found out, over the last 15 years, the Ministry has conducted 546 tactical training maneuvers at its bases and carried out approximately 7 500 tactical exercises at various economically significant sites around the country.

Listening to these statistics, I recalled a post from two years ago by our blogger Provincialka, in which she provided a detailed account of the Ministry’s methods.

She had accidentally slammed her front door shut, and was trying to get through to the Rapid Response Center operator, but to no avail. Several hours later…

“The operator asked me whether I minded if somebody came by and “cut” the door open, meaning I would be left without a door for the night. I was not happy at all with this option, so I barked “Never!” and hung up, adding “Cancel the call.”

That evening, some men from the neighborhood climbed into the apartment from the floor above and opened the door from the inside. They required no Ministry badges and managed the task without inflicting any “trauma” on my door.

Having re-read the post, I decided to check whether this was still the state of affairs.

A call to the emergency hotline confirmed it was, indeed.

Today’s newspapers have already come out with laudatory articles featuring photographs of our valiant rescue workers in their navy blue outfits with distinguishing red stripes.

I should note that, in some countries, the Emergency Control Ministry is an important aspect of national security, having the privilege to serve as law enforcement in cases of street clashes, revolts and curfews. The more trained Ministry workers are for these kind of situations (which are more than likely in our country), the more they are regarded by the government as one of its pillars.

My colleague from Uzmetronom, who also attended the press conference, was right to point out one important detail:

“The only story that was not mentioned at all during the [press conference] was the fate of the former head of the Ministry, general Kasymali Ahmedov. On 26 August 2010, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. We can only imagine what fate awaits the current minister.”