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Homeless Man Dreams to Enroll the Program for Impoverished People

May 11, 2007

mozmobab.gifA man whose total property are two chairs, two iron beds and one old TV, could not be enrolled the program for socially excluded people. He does not have his own house and rents a flat. He has petitioned to the government for a shelter and for including him in the program. However, the correspondence did not have any results. Homeless man applied to the Human Rights Center for help.

The story is the following: Kakhaber Djabauri said that his family has spent ten years in inhuman situation. His brother took military service in Russian Federation where he was seriously injured and got disabled. In addition to that, during the Tbilisi Civil War he was wounded in an abdomen accidentally. The wounded man got ill with tuberculosis as he was not treated properly. Consequently, the family had to sell the flat to pay the treatment for the man. After having urged and bothered many people, one-room flat was granted to Kakhaber Djabauri’s brother in partly-built building in Dumbadze Street in Mukhiani district. The family has lived in that flat for fifteen years. As for Djabauri, he had to leave her brother’s flat and rents a flat.

Kakhaber Djabauri said: “We used to have arguments in family; my brother was often in a bad mood because of his illness. Thus I had to leave the place. How can you imagine bringing up two little children together with a mentally disabled person who suffers from tuberculosis and cancer? I have rented the flat for nine years and have applied to the City Hall for help. I have been sending petitions to all corresponding bodies since 2004. I cannot send my children to school. The school administration also sent letter to the City Hall about my living conditions, I was moving from one to another flat; very often I could not pay the fee and the owners of the flats made ma leave the things in the flat. I have been working in a car-washing facility for ten years but it is too difficult to live on that income.

I cannot understand why they did not enroll me in the category of socially excluded people. I own only two chairs, two beds and one old TV which was given to my child as a present. We also have one small wardrobe. That’s all. They did not include me in the list of impoverished people because I am thirty-four and my wife is thirty-three and we both can work. However, I have rupture and need 650 lari to be operated on.”

The documents which Djabauri produced prove that representatives of the Tbilisi Authority got interested into his problem and sent replies to him.  The City Hall was so interested in his problem that they sent his letter to the Ministry of Monument Protection and demanded to grant the applicant with the flat. As for the officials from the Ministry, they were surprised why similar request was sent to them.

Djabauri’s letters were widely discussed at the parliament, various departments within the Tbilisi City Hall, State Chancellery, and Gldani-Nadzaladevi District Administrative Board; however there was not result.
 
A petition to Nino Burjanadze: “We enrolled the data base for socially excluded people. Agents from the program visited and examined our living conditions. They recorded we had two chairs, two iron beds and small old TV. I expected the program to assist me with the insurance policy and I would be able to be operated on. Unfortunately I could not enroll the program. As I do not hope that the government will ever assist me, I urge you to take my trouble into consideration to protect me from spending whole life in moving from one rented flat into another. If you do not resolve my problem positively, I am supposed to remain in the street. Consequently I will be forced to renounce Georgian citizenship.”

The Human Rights Center got interested in the situation. The center got in touch with the head of the Property Management City Service Center, Sergo Kavtaradze, to find out the situation. He said “Following procedures are required in similar situation: The Residential Commission should make decision regarding the problem and then the documents should be introduced to the government. The meeting of the commission has not been held for some objective reasons recently. This problem will be discussed at the next meeting. I cannot say whether the decision will be positive or not. It is too early to claim anything at present.

Journalist:  Do you remember any example when people with similar problems were assisted?

Sergo Kavtaradze: Of course I do. We can assist similar people but the situation is too individual. The City Hall does not have residential fund. This question will be discussed at the Residential Commission and as soon as the commission meeting is held, the decision will be taken. Final decision is in their competence.

- How often is commission meeting held?

S.K. The commission meeting is held according to the frequency of topics and problems to be discussed. I cannot tell you the exact date.

We tried to find out the situation at the Gldani-Nadzaladevi District Administrative Board. The Deputy Governor of the district, Valeri Ninikelashvili said “we do not have any shelter at present; however, more than one thousand families need our help. We cannot promise you anything at the moment. There are some regulations we must follow. The Tbilisi Authority identifies the priorities. The authority must decide to give the accommodation to the families victimized after earthquake, participants of the Abkhazian war and to those who died in that war. It is individual factor and I do not know how similar categories will be assisted. The Tbilisi City Hall should make final decision. We have not power in similar situation, because we have no accommodation. When the authority gives us flats they tell us which category we should grant them to.”

As for the second problem, why the Djabauris could not enroll the program for socially excluded people, Ninikelashvili answered us that the administrative board never involves similar questions and the Ministry of Healthcare should make decisions in similar situation.

Eka Gulua

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