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Kutaisi Starving without Water

September 13, 2010
Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

The temperature up to 40 Celsius! Drinking water is supplied only once in two days for one and half an hour! The Kutaisi residents had to spend the summer days in similar conditions. The promise of the government to supply the second capital of the country with drinking water during 24 hours a day was not kept and Kutaisi still complains about it.

“What we have endured is incredible. Can you imagine heat up to 40-42 Celsius and no water at home to drink? We have to fetch water from kilometers away for our children. The same situation is today. Is it normal?!  Do the governmental officials have families and children?! Can they live in similar conditions?! They might have had holidays in luxurious resorts while we almost died without drinking water. Now, they come and tell us to pay water-supply bills for the previous months. What bills should we pay; we have water only twice a week. We have to wait for it two or three days,” said the resident of Kharebava Street Lali Gvetadze.

The residents of this street have had problem of the drinking water for the last two years. There is no time-table according to which they are supplied with water. Consequently, very often they remain without water.

“I can understand that the problem is not resolved in the entire city but the situation is extremely unbearable in our street. Other districts of the city are supplied with water at least once in two days for several hours. But our street is supplied with the water only for one and half hour. There are days when we are not supplied with the water at all. In short, they act according to their wish. Our neighbor complained about the problem with the representative of the water-supply company and their conversation almost turned into a quarrel. In reply, the representative of the water company warned we would remain without water at all unless we stop complaining. It cannot continue like that for a long time. Even African tribes do not have similar problems,” said residents of Kutaisi.

Residents of other district also complain about drinking-water. The city center and suburbs have had the same problem for the last few years
  
“The streets were dug long ago and they started to install new pipes but nothing has been changed yet. Now they say the water will not supplied until we pay the water-bills. Why should we pay the bills for we did not have water?! Shall we pay money for no water?! Let them first supply us with water and we will pay then! We will pay water-bills like we pay gas and electricity bills. We will not pay money for what we did not have,” said a resident of Avtomshenebli Street Gogi Lomidze.

Kutaisi service center of the United Water-Supply Company of Georgia, Ltd states that the population has to pay the old bills; these are bills for January and next months of 2010.

As for the water supply, the new head of the Kutaisi service center said the problem would be resolved in the next few years. Levan Chanchaleishvili said the city will be supplied with water 24-hours a day then.

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