The contentious redevelopment plan for the city of Osh has once again reared its head.

Yesterday, Kadanbay Baktygulov, second-in-command of the national agency in charge of rebuilding the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan after June’s deadly clashes, said that Osh’s so-called Master Plan has already been “approved by the city authorities and discussed by the public, [and] now it will be considered by the government.”
Rights advocates have been worried about the plan -- which envisions building high-rises in downtown Osh -- since summer, saying it could lead to forced evictions from a few of the neighborhoods burned down in June. The now-homeless people in these areas, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, have begun rebuilding on the sites of their old homes with the help of international aid groups, but city authorities haven’t always been supportive. The mayor’s office, for example, didn’t give full permission for construction until August 28, contributing to delays in the shelter project. The city also balked at its obligation to clear away rubble, so building supplies had trouble reaching construction sites.
In mid-September, First Deputy Mayor Taalai Sabirov told EurasiaNet that the plan “exists” and would eventually become reality.
“If we don’t do it, maybe our children will,” he said. “The plan will go ahead anyway, though maybe not on the exact same blocks that were hurt.”
Sabirov also said that recipients of transitional shelter – mostly two-room brick structures of 28 square meters – cannot make “capital improvements” to their property, suggesting he didn’t expect the new homes to be long-term.
Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank announced last week that it would give Kyrgyzstan $30 million for the construction of “permanent homes” for families whose property was damaged in the June violence.
Who will determine where those homes stand? A new round of the battle seems set to begin.