PRESIDENT MEETS MAYOR OF ULAANBAATAR

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga received S.Batbold, Mayor of Ulaanbaatar on October 17. Beginning the meeting, the Mayor presented his works toward resolving some urgent problems faced to Ulaanbaatar. He mentioned that reducing air pollution and renovation of treatment facility are the main points of focus. S.Batbold said he had issued three directions regarding reduction of air pollution and had been engaged in discussions on building a new treatment facility and improving the existing one. The President underlined that building new satellite cities will be more effective action than attempting to improve the situation of the city which was designed to accommodate a maximum of 500 thousand people. The President also mentioned about the project which he initiated while he worked as the Minister for Road, Transport, Construction and Urban Development and said that the satellite city designs were developed by German engineers. He asked the Mayor to study the practices of Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Astana, all of which solved its problems by relocating the government organizations, universities and their campuses outside the city. Every city has its problems, said the President. “Ulaanbaatar is like a family living in a Ger that became too small to contain all the members of the extended family,” he stressed. According to the latest record, the population of Ulaanbaatar reached one million and 370 thousand. In addition, approximately 250 thousand people, including the businesspeople and students, constantly travel back and forth. Kh.Aminaa