BISHKEK. Nov 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of servicemen deployed at the international antiterrorist coalition airbase at the Manas international airport in Kyrgyzstan will not be increased, said the airbase commander, U.S. Air Force Colonel Bradley Pray.
New units of American servicemen to arrive at the airbase in January-February 2005 will replace those who have served in Kyrgyzstan over three months, and these servicemen will be settled in new barracks rather than in tents, Pray told Interfax on Thursday.
The airbase's press service said $108 million should be spent on equipping and modernizing the airbase. Twenty barracks accommodating 2,000 people should be constructed by the end of next summer, it said.
In addition, a medical unit, a gym, a recreation room, a passenger terminal, and a mess-hall are to be constructed on an area of 10 hectares. New buildings will be constructed of prefabricated elements to replace tents. It is planned to spend $40 million on this by the end of 2004.
The airbase's personnel is about 1,200 people, including American and Spanish military contingents and civilian Kyrgyz personnel.