Tchiatura in expectation of an ecological disaster

Giorgi Janelidze,humanrightshouse.org

The population of Tchiatura district blames the company Georgian Manganese of polluting  the environment. The company is obtaining and processing manganese in the region. The district majoritarian MP in Tchiatura, Malkhaz Tsereteli, said in 2014 that the environment in Georgia was damaged for 327, 5 million lari. Out of that 324 million lari, which is 99% of the total damage, is in Tchiatura municipality.

 

The nongovernmental organization Union of Tchiatura Residents, is actively involved in the environmental protection campaign in the district. Head of the organization, Shota Gaprindashvili, said the cause of the environmental pollution of Tchiatura is open obtaining and transportation of ores. The ores thrown from trucks pollutes the road and the environment.

”Years ago, Tchiatur Manganese obtained much more ore in the district, but then the obtained ores was transported by rope-cabins. Representatives of the Georgian Manganese” said they almost never use the town road when transporting the ores. There is a roundabout. Let them repair the road and transport the ore alongside that road,” Shota Gaprindashvili said.

Chairman of the Tchiatura Trade Union, Amiran Machitadze, mentioned one more reason of the environmental pollution caused by the company. “Another problem is that the company spares money for the restoration of the soil. The company is obliged to make the territory even after obtaining the ores and to plant trees there. It is re-cultivation-restoration of the soil and it is a very expensive process. Despite the difficulty and expenses of the process, the companies did it during the soviet time.”

Expert of the nongovernmental organization CENN, Tchitchiko Janelidze, shared the position of the Tchiatura Trade Union chair and added that the company breaches the rule of obtaining ore to spare money. “Everybody knows the technical norms of obtaining the ores, but it is an expensive process and everybody avoids the expenses. If all the technological norms are followed, there will be no problem. Unfortunately, this problem is not only in Tchiatura, the same happens in Kazreti.”

An employee of the Tchiatura factory, Mikheil Imedadze, spoke about the pollution of the River Kvirila and is looking for a solution. “It is a disaster that manganese-polluted water flows into the river. Both local and central governments and environmental services keep their eyes closed in this issue. We pollute the Black Sea too when the manganese polluted Kvirila flows into it. We pollute everything and everybody.”

Mikheil Imedadze blames the state institutions and says that it is the primary obligation of the government to protect its citizens. “The government must protect us. They should not arrive here only before elections to collect votes… we are people and nobody has the right to sentence us to death.”

Locals said the population migrates from the district because of hard ecological conditions. Tunnel-maker Lasha Mirotadze said there are 64 villages in the municipality but the majority of them are half-empty. The number of pupils in public schools has been reduced. Shota Gaprindashvili said that in the past there were 10 000 first-year pupils in the Tchiatura public schools every year, now their number is only 341.

Tchiatura Residents Union members request the relevant bodies to transfer most of the fines paid by the company to the municipal budget to restore the damaged ecological system. The district majoritarian MP of Tchiatura, Malkhaz Tsereteli, said that in 2014 the environment of Georgia was damaged for 327, 5 million lari. 324 million of it, which makes 99% of the damage countrywide, is in Tchiatura municipality. He said that after the environment supervision service evaluated the environment pollution caused by the Georgian Manganese on June 15, 2013, it was worth 2 079 000 lari. The case was sent to the prosecutor’s office for further investigation but it is still unfinished. “We have the impression that they are hurrying to obtain as much wealth from here as possible through violation of the constitutional rights of citizens and the law,” Tsereteli said.

On February 9, 2015 the local population blocked the road to Zodi village, as we found out that the ores transported by trucks fell off and covered the road so that even people could not walk there. In order to figure out about/solve the situation, deputy chief engineer of the Georgian Manganese, Kote Kipshidze, met the protesters. During the meeting he said that the company would restore the road and build a roundabout too.

CENN project manager, Nino Gaprindashvili, has been studying the environmental pollution in Tchiatura since 2011. She said that single laboratory analysis of the air and drinking water showed that the dust concentration in the air is three times more than allowed, which creates a threat to the health of people and causes deceases like asthma and breathing system inflammation. According to the data of the World Healthcare Organization, air pollution is one of the main environmental-related threats to people’s health.

 

According to the local population’s information, the number of cancer deceases has increased the past years. Head of the Department for Non-taint deceases at the Control and Public Healthcare National Center, Lela Sturua, does not confirm this information. “In general, oncological deceases in Georgia, as well as in the world, are very wide-spread. 14% of the cases of death are caused by oncological deceases. So, in terms of the spread of cancer deceases, there is no difference between the zone of Tchiatura and other regions of Georgia,” Sturua said.

The chief state inspector of the environmental department of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Neli Korkotadze, said that the entire licensed space owned by the Georgian Manganese was examined. “The main problem there is the degradation of the fertile layer of the soil. The ground is polluted with useless layers. The damage caused by the Georgian Manganese to the environment was calculated. Since their activities contained signs of criminal offence, the case was sent to law enforcement bodies,” Korkotadze said.

According to the chief state inspector they examined ore concentrating enterprises in Tchiatura municipality and gave special recommendations to the company to eradicate the violations. “Inspection of the ore concentrating enterprises of the Georgian Manganese, revealed some violations. In order to eradicate them, we gave the company some time. Besides that we calculated the environmental damage. Soon we will appeal to the court and request reimbursement of the damage.”

After the TV-Company Imedi aired a TV-story about the ecological situation in Tchiatura district, the Georgian Manganese spread a special statement. It says that they plan to re-cultivate the 5-hectare territory in 2015. The company also mentioned the pollution of the River Kvirila and stated that it is caused by the activities of the mountainous-ore concentrating factory. According to the statement, in 2016 Georgian Manganese will give a start to the mountainous ore-concentrating complex, which will process the ore in a closed method. It will exclude the pollution of the river in the future.

Georgian Manganese responded to the alleged connection between the environmental pollution and cancer deceases and stated that “chemical element manganum cannot cause onco-deceases and relevant competent state institutions should study any other causes of why statististics say cancer deceases have increased in the district.” 

Original text