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On The Edge of Impoverishment

May 31, 2007

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Mzia Jachvliani, a disabled woman of the second group, lives in the village of Meore Svireli in the Zestafoni District. She lives with her family in the half-ruined house she had inherited it from her father. In 2002 the family’s situation worsened when their house was damaged by landslide. The walls of the house cracked and it became dangerous to spend nights in the house.  The family expects their house to pull down everyday.

Since 2002 Mzia Jachvliani has been applying to the local and district Administrative Boards for help in vain. They do not keep their promises at all.

“One wall of the house has completely pulled down. Then I applied to the local Administrative Board and petitioned to them in May 2005 for the second time. Davit Feradze was the governor at that time. He said that the victim families, damaged during the natural disaster, would certainly be aided. Though, he said that the money had not been apportioned yet. I waited for the aid in vain. I was told at the Administrative Board to take photos of my ruined house and to produce them to officials. They said they would enclose the photos to my petition and the money would be transferred afterwards. Of course I took photos but there was no result. The only income for my family was the pension of my husband and mine which we receive for disability. We could not keep our five-member family with that money. The hard life told on our children and they were arrested. Two of them are still in prison, in Rustavi Detention Setting #6. One of them is mentally disabled as a result of the poor conditions he has endured in the prison. I cannot afford the medical treatment of my son. I want him to be released from the prison alive,” said Mzia Jachvliani.

When the Poverty Reduction Program started in the country, Mzia Jachvliani gave birth to the hope. She said in her conversation with the Human Rights Center that she immediately collected all documents and applied to the local authority. However, her effort had no result. In 2006 the family stayed beyond the program though they lived in half-ruined house.

Disappointed woman started to visit various institutions to protest the high points her family had been granted with. It took almost one year to render the justice and finally their family was included on the list of impoverished people and consequently they could receive the allowance. “It would not improve our living conditions very much, but if I can buy at least one medicine with that money, it would be great relief for me,” said Mzia Jachvliani.

Having received no aid from the Zestafoni District Administrative Board, Mzia Jachvliani applied to the Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation in Tbilisi. “They promised me to get in touch with me if there are any changes for better. They really called us and we arrived in Tbilisi again. They took us to Pankisi Gorge and showed abandoned houses. How could I live there? Kists were settled several meters away from those houses. Ten families from Svaneti Region accompanied us to the gorge; they were damaged by natural disaster too. Those people also got furious. There was not even a bush to be seen nearby,” said Mzia Jachvliani. Having lost all hopes, she applied to the Public Defender.

On April 2 2007, the applicant received a copy of the Georgian Public Defender’s petition to the Minister of Refugees and Accommodation as well as to the Zestafoni District Governor. In the petition the Public Defender recommended the Minister and the governor to assist the impoverished family in order to keep them away from spending the winter in half ruined house.”

The Jachvlianis received indifferent letter from the Zestafoni District Administrative board via the Public Defender’s office. The letter stated that “The Zestafoni Municipality does not have accommodation fund at the moment. The Administrative Board will do its best to resolve your accommodation problems.”

“I expected the Public Defender to assist us but as it has become clear, there will not be any result. I have been receiving such answers from the local government since 2002. There is no result. We spent last winter in this ruined house and we expected it to pull down all the time. We were afraid of being caught under the ruins.  There is only one room where we can sleep. My husband, elder son and I sleep here, though we cannot be sure that those walls are safe too. The walls are cracked and the floor is lowered. So the house can be destroyed every moment,” said Mzia Jachvliani.

The landslide permanently damages the house. Later, the family built some building which is not roofed yet, though it has already been damaged by the natural disaster. The Jachvlianis dream to dismantle the old house and repair the new one with the construction materials left from the dismantling. In this way they would have at least one safe room to spend night in it. Unfortunately they do not hope their dream will ever come true and rely only on the God’s will.

Lela Khidasheli, Kutaisi

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