Uzbekistan: Tashkent Residents Ordered to Forage for Scrap Metal

Residents of Tashkent have been ordered to forage for scrap metal. Limited supplies in the city has prompted some people to resort to a "campaign of vandalism," an Uzbek opposition news site reports.

According to Uzmetronom.com, the order to collect scrap metal was issued to supplement supplies to the Bekabad steelworks. However, the order, which applies to individuals, businesses, schools, and health clinics, is hard to fulfill, according to the Uzmetronom.com report.

Nurses and doctors have been told to come up with 10 kilograms of scrap each, it says, adding that where or when medical workers are supposed to collect scrap was not specified by the city authorities.

As a result, some city residents have taken to stealing pipes and radiators from the public doorways of apartment blocks in an attempt to meet quotas.