Inhabitants of Akhalsopeli Left without Land to Graze Their Animals

Inhabitants of Akhalsopeli Left without Land to Graze Their Animals

There is a high possibility that the inhabitants of the village of Akhalsopeli, in the Kvareli region, will be left without land to graze their animals on. Vano Talashvili seems to take it all away. According to the inhabitants of Akhalsopeli, he is supported by his godfather, Valodia Verulashvili, the father of MP Marika Verulashvili.  

The administration of Akhalsopeli does not possess any information about the affair and advised that it would instead be better to talk with the local population.

The inhabitants of Akhalsopeli are frustrated and foresee “a murder in the village”.

In 2000, about 500 families made an agreement with the village administration. According to this agreement, 30 hectares of land was granted to them on lease for 49 years. The agreement had to be legally formed in the name of one person, that person, it was decided by all the families, was to be Vano Talashvili.

The inhabitants assure that they have been paying rent for 5 years for the village budget, though the village administration argues the contrary, which claims that the agreement was falsified and that the land should be sold again through an auction. The people oppose holding an auction. They are especially irritated with Talashvili’s behavior.  Concerned folk say: “Valodia Verulashvili’s godson considers 30 hectares of the pasture as his own land. He has built a house there and does not let the poor people’s cattle venture onto it. He does not plan to compromise.”  Neither do the inhabitants of the village. “The head of the administration promised to make Talashvili leave. However, nothing has been done so far. We depend on that land; what shall we do? There is no other way but to die from hunger”, says one of the inhabitants, Zaal Natsvlishvili.

“We applied to the Governor of the region as well as to the head of the administration but without any positive results. We visited the Head of the Administration on February 22, he promised to make Talashvili leave the place in three days but still he lives there. Then, they postponed dealing with the problem till May. But why not solve the problem now”, wonders Gela Papov, “What are they waiting for?”

We searched for Talashvili for a long time on those 30 hectares of land, but unsuccessfully. The inhabitants of Akhalsopeli intend to continue to fight this breach of the law and finish up their emotional story with a threat: “We are trying to reveal the truth using the law; if we fail to do so then we will use other methods. We know what to do and how to act in order to show the government our strength…”

Veriko Kobiashvili from Telavi