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Defense Ministry Threatens to Evict Villagers from Uplistsikhe

April 18, 2006

 Defense Ministry Threatens to Evict Villagers from Uplistsikhe

The villagers of Uplistsikhe in the Gori region are starting to panic. The villagers are concerned because a division of the Defense Ministry has recently been located in the village, on the site of the former State Industrial Park. Rumors are spreading that the Ministry of Defense plans to locate military divisions there, thus the 300 inhabitants of the village may face eviction from the territory. 

The fact that the grounds of the kindergarten and culture house are now under the ownership of the Defense Ministry raises concerns amongst the people. The village faces another danger as well; the elementary school could be closed because of a lack of students. If this happens, the village will lose the last of its own functions and will simply become part of the Kakhvreli Administration.

“There are lots of factors that point to the possible incorporation of land that we own into land that already belongs to the Ministry of Defense in our village. Rumors have been spread about our relocation to other villages. Sometimes the soldiers play football with the locals, but the soldiers say nothing because they do not know themselves what may happen. Maybe they are checking our reactions to the news or simply want us to get accustomed to the idea”, says local inhabitant Archil Gabinashvili.

The village of Uplistsikhe is located to the right of Mtkvari in the Gori region. The left-side (Old Uplistsikhe), at the bottom of the old cave town of Uplistsikhe, was also settled until the 1960s. During Soviet times, the population of Old Uplistsikhe was moved to the right side of Mtkvari, where a railway and a State Industrial Park (used for storing various goods) had been built. Back then, some people were employed on the railway and at the Industrial Park. Those who were employed in the Industrial Park were provided with flats by the government. Some people built their own homes.

The official reason why people were moved from Old Uplistsikhe was given as the ‘improper living’ conditions existing there. The inhabitants still state that their relocation to the new site back then was a good idea. Nowadays they see the danger of being taken away from their homes and again moved to somewhere else. They want the Georgian Army to be strong; however they are against being moved to a new location. The only thing the inhabitants want to know now is whether the information that has been spread is true or not.

“We settled in the new place and got accustomed to it. However, we are frightened that the military will take our houses and we will have to start all over again. Who could imagine that the Military Forces would be located in the former State Industrial Park? We do not even know what they are keeping in there. The population is bothered by all the military vehicles driving around at night. What does the army want here? There is no room for training here”, states another local inhabitant, Gigo Berikashvili.

Another interesting issue regarding Uplistsikhe is the Gori-Uplistsikhe road, which was rebuilt last year. At first, everybody thought the road was being rebuilt in order to make the journey to Old Uplistsikhe easier as it is a historical site and has many visitors. However, it appears that the road was rebuilt only to get to the new military base. The 4 kilometer road to the historical monument still remains in bad condition. Money to repair the remaining part of the road has also not been allotted from the regional budget. The inhabitants of Uplistsikhe are sure that the new road has been built for military purposes. Furthermore, villagers speak about the possible closure of the Gori-Uplistsikhe road. They think the territory will be turned into an off-limits military base that even ‘a fly won’t be able to enter’.

So far it is not known what might happen regarding the site of the former Industrial Park. It is obvious however that Gori and the surrounding area are being turned into military base. The work to change the Gori Regional Hospital (which was transferred to the Defense Ministry earlier this year) into Military Hospital has already finished. Additionally, if the Gori State University fails to obtain accreditation, it risks being turned into Military Academy.

Saba Tsitsikashvili from Gori

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