Mentally Disabled Person Was Left Homeless

An elite residential house under construction on Queen Tamar Street in Kutaisi might become a reason for controversy in the near future. The house is being constructed by “Spektri 7”, a subordinate company of “Center-Point”. The home of mentally disabled Davit Telia was destroyed in order to start a construction of the new building. As a result, a socially excluded, lonely person has been homeless for more than a month and is seeking help.

Last week, Telia turned to the Human Rights Center’s Kutaisi office for help. The victim said that his house was torn down without his permission. With justice currently out of reach, the members of the Egalitarian Institute and his neighbors worry about the situation Mr. Telia faces.

“Nobody had the right to start construction on Queen Tamar Street # 72 because a person lived there. His house was illegally destroyed. After leaving a mental hospital, Telia found that his house had been demolished. The house was registered in his name at the Public Registry, however, and we applied for documentation to find out the legality of the construction. It is a fact that Telia’s rights were blatantly violated,” said Gocha Badzgaradze, Egalitarian Institute’s representative in Kutaisi.

According to the Public Registry’s data, Davit Telia was the only heir of the estate in the area. However, few seem to remember him and Malkhaz Kifshidze, director of the “Spektri 7” said that he had never heard about Telia before.

“We will appeal to the courts against the building company in the near future. A lawyer has already handed the case materials to the Prosecutor’s Office for discussion. Gocha Chighvaria, the guardian and friend of Telia, will defend his interests at court. We will investigate this case to the end. We will prove that nobody has the right to harass the property of a person even though he may be a lonely and mentally disabled man,” said Badzgaradze.

It appears that Telia is not the only victim of construction on the street. Residents of Shanidze Street, which runs parallel to Queen Tamar Street, claim that the ground is creeping in the area, causing their houses to flood on rainy days. The risk of a landslide or some other accident is also quite high, residents claim.

The Prosecutor’s Office will continue to investigate the situation and further clarify the circumstances at hand. A suit against the construction organizer will be heard before the Kutaisi Civil Court in a week.

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi