Sozar Subari Presented the New State Policy to IDPs

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

On January 39, the Minister for IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia Sozar Subari visited the IDP settlements in Turbaza and in the Hotel Kartli in Gori. He said, in June 2017, majority of IDPs will receive flats. Sozar Subari met those IDPs, who will receive flats in the residential buildings, which are constructed in Kombinati and Tsmindatskali settlements in Gori. They were displaced from Tskhinvali during 1990s armed conflicts. 

“Two years ago, when I occupied the position of the Minister, I visited the Turbaza settlement and hotel Kartli. Since then I tried not to come here again because people lived in hard conditions. I had promised them to accommodate everybody in better flats and we are able to fulfill our promise this summer. These people will have their own homes in June-July, this year,” Sozar Subari said.

The Minister spoke about the new policy of the state in relation with IDPs, which aims to stop allowances for the IDPs, who have good jobs and business; however, the IDPs, whose monthly income is average or low, will have the allowances doubled.

“The state budget spends 250 million GEL on the IDPs; 67 million GEL from it is spent on the constructions; the rest is dedicated to social benefits and various needs of the internally displaced persons. We want to reform the system so that the budget funds were more reasonably spent on the people who really need support, instead those who have good jobs or business. The state will again allocate 250 million GEL on IDPs but it will be spent more effectively that will enable us to double the social benefits for the IDPs who are in real need. Also, with that saving we will be able to speed up the construction process and resolve the accommodation problem of IDPs in 3-4 years. Besides that, I would like to clarify that all IDPs will keep their status; I want everybody remembered it,” Sozar Subari said.

The Minister also commented about abolished regional departments and clarified it with urgent necessity. 

“I closed two of the four regional departments. I closed one in Kvemo Kartli region because it covered Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti regions. Their office was in Rustavi and people from Kakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti regions had to first arrive in Tbilisi and then travel to Rustavi. It was very inconvenient and we moved the department to Tbilisi. As for  the Shida Kartli region, absolute majority of IDPs in Gori have flats and after June 2017 we will no longer have any poor or homeless IDP. Besides that, Gori is very close to Tbilisi and we can monitor the situation on the ground from the Ministry. The employees will continue working but they will subordinate the Tbilisi based department. After June, we will have fewer IDPs without flats in Gori and consequently, keeping the department is unnecessary and useless luxury,” the minister said.

Based on the January 1, 2017 resolution of Sozar Subari, the regional departments of the Ministry were abolished in Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions. Three of seven employees of the Shida Kartli regional department were dismissed; two-month labor contracts were signed with the rest four, As Sozar Subari said, all four employees will continue working as local representatives of the Ministry.