“Saakashvili Does Not Speak About Us, Maybe There Is Another Georgia and They Hide It From Us”
November 15, 2010
Inga Gvasalia, Samegrelo
There used to be an auto-station near the Poti agricultural market where the buses to the villages and towns close to Poti used to stop. So, it was easy for farmers to bring their crop to the market. They used to purchase the products in the nearby shops and then go home. Based on the decision of the local authority, the auto-station was removed to the not-yet-renovated auto-station “in its historical place” in order “to eradicate chaotic situation and to make the area more comfortable”.
Neither the residents of the nearby villages nor drivers liked the new regulation but the decision was final and cannot be changed. Several discontent people applied to the Human Rights Center for help. The location of the new auto-station is very uncomfortable for them. They cannot reach the market with luggage easily and it requires additional sums from them to get to the auto-station from market and vice versa. In the past, when the auto-station was close to the market, they used to purchase all necessary products and store them in the bus standing near the market. Now, everything has been complicated.
“It is profitable for somebody; maybe this innovation supports somebody’s business and brings profit for him. Nobody cares to create comfort for people. Is the new station clean and comfortable? They should have finished its reconstruction and then have taken the people there,” complained a farmer who asked us not to publish his name in order to avoid future problems, “The worker with hand-cart requests 2 GEL to take our luggage from market to the bus-station. But we have to pay 5 GEL for a taxi. The people are impoverished and the government complicates our lives even more. They do their best to torture people! The government does not care about people at all. I have impression based on their TV-shows that they govern the country from the space. We seem to live in another Georgia because what Saakashvili speaks is not true about our real life at all. There must be one more Georgia, which is better than ours and they hide it from us! When making the decision, they should also ask opinion of the people. They should have considered our opinion too. The wheat flour costs so expensive that we hardly afford to buy it and then we have to pay some money to bring it home. How can I carry 50-kg sack on my back?! Maybe 2 GEL is very little money for our pampered governmental officials, but for me it is a fortune. Everything is so expensive in the market and the government complicates the situation even more. Instead making our lives easier, they burden our situation. By the way, I am surprised with our population too! We should not turn into a crowd and endure everything patiently! We allow the government to act in this way. Who has much money today; people are unemployed?”
The drivers agree with people and they complain about reduced number of passengers. “People do not come from the villages to Poti; they prefer to go to Zugdidi, or to Senaki where they can sell or exchange their products more comfortably. Mostly, our passengers transported their crops to Poti to sell. If they do not have chance to sell it here, why they would come here to trade?! They will go to more convenient place. They cannot transport their crops by other means of transport. This problem is most urgent for the drivers of the mini-buses running to villages. I am very sorry for passengers. The drivers of those mini-buses sometimes assisted the villagers in another way too – the villagers used to give money to them and the drivers used to buy products for them in Poti. Now it is impossible. I always managed to cover my fuel expenses but nowadays we cannot even cover it not to speak about any profit. We cannot park our cars near the market. They have established strict sanctions for us. We have to leave passengers at the market and then go back; if we stop there for some time, we will have to pay fine of 40 GEL. If it continues like that, the drivers will stop working.”
The drivers complain about increased payments. In the past they paid 15 % of the sold tickets but now they have to pay 20 %. Besides that, they have to pay some other taxes too and now their income has seriously reduced. Thus, they request one fixed tax a. Nevertheless, the drivers are afraid to complain because they are threatened with losing their itineraries; the authority will hire more obedient drivers instead them. Those obedient drivers have already appeared; the old drivers call them “Khishnik” (plunderer).
The area of the new auto-station is 8 000 sq. meter and belongs to the oil company “Wissol”. Currently, “Nimari” Ltd has leased the auto-station and is reconstructing it. “We are reconstructing the auto-station step-by-step as we can afford it. We are building a hotel and a waiting room there; the building will be ready before the New Year. We have leased the territory from the Wissol and they request the money in advance; so we had to start working before reconstruction was finished. The Wissol did not wait for us until we finish the reconstruction. The façade will finish in two weeks,” said the representative of the “Nimari” Davit Shonia.
He does not agree with the complaints of the drivers about lack of passengers and claims that the itineraries to villages and towns are not separated. As for reduced number of passengers, Shonia does not explain it by removed auto-station but by the reduced amount of products. “According to our decision, the drivers of the village mini-buses leave passengers near the market and later they again enter the market territory to pick up passengers. The villagers do not face any problems here. Several drivers, particularly those who work for villages, do not like the ticket-system. The drivers of the mini-buses running to towns or to Tbilisi do not complain about it because it is not new for them. The auto-station gets 20 % from each sold ticket,” said Shonia.
The traders trading nearby the auto-station also complain about the removal of the station. “After the station was removed, we lost our clients and our income has reduced. We have problems and do not know what to do. By the way, we will also be removed from here. They ban street-trading everywhere and state the city should look more beautiful. I also want to live in a nice and comfortable city but will it support me financially? How shall we keep our families? Let them answer to these questions and not to speak on TV that we live in a miracle and our living conditions are better than in America and Europe. Whom are they lying to? We are fed up with the boasting of our government! I have graduated the university but now I have to earn my living by trading in the street,” said a trader.
The head of the Poti department for infrastructure, transport and property management Temur Dondua said there were four auto-stations in the city in the past but none of them complied with the standards. The ministry of transport of Georgia requested to return the auto-station to its old place. “The building is a private property but the agreement required the owner not to change the profile for several years. We also wanted it. Although the reconstruction is not finished yet, and the parties have some complaints, we promise nobody will be victimized by our decision and the city will also look more beautiful.”
The removal of the auto-station has not prevented the chaos near the market yet; neither the city has become more beautiful. But as Dundua has promised, everything will be arranged till the end of the year.
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