The snowmelt from mountainous Tajikistan has the potential to make the country an energy exporter. Photo: Jason Sangster for Mercy Corps

What do you do if you're a country that can't afford a big public infrastructure project? If you're Tajikistan, you ask your own citizens to chip in.

In Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, the mayor has asked residents to "donate" half their monthly salary this month and next to finish a Soviet-era dam that was never completed, according to EurasiaNet.

Tajikistan is Central Asia's poorest country. The guaranteed minimum monthly salary is barely above $10 — half the estimated monthly living expenses. Despite being Central Asia's poorest state, EurasiaNet reports that many residents are complying with the request out of fear of government reprisals. Rumors are that the government tracks who does and doesn't contribute.

The request follows a severe winter energy crisis that left most of the country in sub-zero temperatures without water, electricity or heat for four weeks. Eurasia Daily Monitor reports that Tajikistan is still importing most of its energy from its Central Asian neighbors, even though in most years it relies on its own energy production starting in mid-April.

In fact, Tajikistan has the water resources to actually export power to its neighbors. It's home to more than half of the region's hydropower potential, notes a blogger on neweurasia.net.

But with seemingly no one willing to invest in its neglected infrastructure — its ranking among the world's most corrupt countries poses one challenge — the government is left to try to collect loose change from the people themselves.