Kyrgyz Villagers Despair As U.S. Air Base Closes

In a corner of a Kyrgyz market, Tatyana sells second-hand T-shirts passed on by personnel at a nearby U.S. military air base.

Three of her sons work on the base as builders.

So she was shocked to hear that Kyrgyzstan's government had decided to shut the Manas air base -- a vital hub for troops and supplies for the U.S. and NATO campaign in neigbouring Afghanistan and also a main source of income for many local villagers .

"It will be very tough to survive without the Americans," said Tatyana, unfolding one cotton T-shift that said 'Cleveland, 1863' across the front. "All of our money comes from the base."

Tatyana, who asked not to use her surname, said the base often donated clothes to local communities as a charity gesture. Many, like her, sometimes resold those goods at the market to make ends meet, she said.

The Manas air base, named after an epic Kyrgyz hero, was set up the impoverished former Soviet republic in 2001 to help U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.

Since then, a whole economy, including black market activity such as Tatyana's, has blossomed around its barbed wire fence.

The base says 650 local contractors officially work on its premises as builders and cleaners but many more benefit indirectly. Local workers earn about 10,000 soms ($245) a month on average at the base -- nearly double the nationwide average.

The U.S. base could not immediately comment on the impact of its planned closure.

Washington pays $17.4 million a year for Manas. Its total assistance to Kyrgyzstan is $150 million a year -- a considerable amount relative to Kyrgyzstan's $4 billion economy.

The air base's planned closure comes at a difficult time for Kyrgyzstan, already struggling with the effects of the global financial crisis as income sent home by Kyrgyz labourers working abroad -- mainly in Russia -- begins to dry up.

"Given the current economic situation, closing the base will seriously impact our citizens particularly those who work at the base," Alikbek Jekshenkulov, an opposition leader, told Reuters.

GEOPOLITICS

Populated by descendants of nomadic tribes that once roamed the steppes of Eurasia, Kyrgyzstan sprang into the centre of global geopolitics this month when it announced its decision to close Manas, home to about 1,000 military personnel.

Kyrgyzstan accused the United States of refusing to pay more rent for the base and handed Washington a formal eviction notice on Feb. 20, giving the U.S. military six months to leave.

But villagers living in the wind-lashed pastures around Manas said shutting the base would only erode their incomes. About 10,000 people live in the area.

Residents of one village, also called Manas, said they feared closing the base would lead to more crime.

"Before the Americans came there were no jobs around there," said Orumkul Aimenova, a 49-year-old woman standing on a dirt track outside her wooden hut.

"What will young people do? Many of them will turn to crime because there is nothing else to do," she said, glancing at the silhouettes of U.S. military planes gliding above the steppe.

Kyrgyzstan's government says it will do everything to help those who lost their jobs as a result of the base closure.

"We will study the impact in terms of jobs and how it will affect families," said a labour ministry spokesman.

But some said they were only happy to see the Americans go and spoke of air pollution, damaged crops and ensuing health problems. A 2006 incident when a U.S. air man shot dead a Kyrgyz truck driver is another contentious issue.

Many echoed government accusations of fuel dumping by U.S. planes on local lands, a charge denied by the U.S. military.

The extent of this damage remains unclear. Asked by a parliament deputy to assess it, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said on Feb. 18 that the government had no full information on the environmental impact of the U.S. air base.

Kyrgyzstan's opposition has accused the government of exaggerating this issue to drum up support for Manas closure.

Yet, many felt strongly on the matter.

"Because of the Americans all the crops are damaged, trees have all turned yellow. People's hair has started to fall out," one old villager in ragged clothes said as he angrily shook his fist. "They should have closed the air base a long time ago."