Protest of IDPs in Gori

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

Part of IDPs got dissatisfied with the assignment of flats to internally displaced families in the 8-10 floor residential buildings in Gori. Those IDPs, who did not receive the flats, gathered in the administrative building of Gori municipality to protest the work of the commission at the Ministry of IDPs and Accommodation and evaluated its work as unfair. 

On December 21, the Ministry of IDPs published the list of those IDPs, who would receive one, two and three-room flats in the recently constructed residential building in Gori. Those IDPs lost houses in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region during the military operations of 1990s. During years they lived in the buildings of former hotels or state institutions in Gori and municipality villages.

IDPs said their houses belong to the under-risk category. The IDPs left without flats have questions to the commission members about the flat distribution process. 

“They assigned the flats to selected people, based on personal relations and friendships. They satisfied those IDPs with flats who had supporters in the authority. We, ten IDP families left in the former building of the hotel Kartli, were waiting for the new flats but as we did not have acquaintances in the authority were left without flats. The distribution of the flats was unfair process,” one of the protester IDPs said. 

One of the IDPs, who was left without accommodation, cut his veins in the administrative building of the Gori municipality authority in protest; he was taken to hospital. The family is from Abkhazia and currently they live in semi-destroyed house in Sveneti village, Gori municipality. The man, who cut his veins in protest, has cancer and is taking chemotherapy courses. His wife has epilepsy. There are two underage children in their family, and one of them has disability status.

“Our house has damaged roof and it is raining inside the house as it rains outside. We cannot warm the house and live in unbearable conditions but they say we do not deserve the house though I was the second on the list of those IDPs, who had to receive the new flat; I do not know what happened afterwards,” Shorena Gelashvili said.

Deputy Minister of IDPs and Accommodation, together with the members of the commission to study the IDPs’ issues arrived in Gori and individually clarified the criteria of granting the grades to the IDPs. Grigol Giorgadze said, the man, who cut his veins is not IDP but his wife has the status.

 

“This family lives in the house of the man’ss parents. We, first of all, satisfy those families with the flats, who do not have alternative accommodations,” Grigol Giorgadze said.

According to the deputy minister Grigol Giorgadze, based on the commission’s decision five collapsing buildings will be closed in Shida Kartli region. He said the flats distribution process was transparent though he does not exclude chance of some mistakes in the process. 

“We might identify separate cases when IDP families received the flats unlawfully or the family deserved the flat but did not receive. During the meeting today we are double-checking the conditions of the IDPs, who have complaints,” Giorgadze said.

He said 436 IDP families will receive the flats in the 8-10 storied residential building in Gori; the ministry will receive applications for the remaining 44 three-room flats. 

Majority of the IDPs, who have complaints against the commission and flats distribution, plan to appeal the court.