Today, on July 4 residents of the village of Ketilari in Abasha district protested in front of the district administration building. The villagers are upset over the assignment of their land plots to outside investors who want to establish an agricultural enterprise.
Demonstrators demanded that there be a meeting with Zaza Gorozia, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Governor. However, the deputy governor, Aleksandre Akhvlediani met with them instead of the governor and he then promised their requests would be duly considered.
The villagers protest the plans to sell 80 hectares of what they consider to be their land. Reportedly, the lands in question are planned to be assigned to foreign investors who wants to establish a farm on it. Guram Gunava, the Abasha district governor, informed them about it. Consequently the residents of Ketilari state that Gunava promised to register only 2,500 sq. meters of land in their names and small amount is unacceptable to them.
The villagers demand that all 80 hectares of land be registered to them, or that plots be sold to them, and that the sale be based on principle of direct purchase and that the land would be auctioned-off.
Nana Pazhava, Zugdidi