Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

The “Motionless” Government and the “Active” Sea

October 30, 2007
The sea attacks a Georgian community and the government only investigates the situation.

In the village of Adlia in the Khelvachauri district, the issue of implementing projects to repair the shoreline has not yet been resolved. Last year a governmental commission was set up by Prime-Minister Zurab Nogaideli to find a resolution to the problem, but has only studied the situation in the district. The only result has been that the ruins of the hotels Medea and Meskheti were thrown on Adlia’s seaside.

“Leaving hotel ruins in the area will not resolve the problems with the shoreline,” said local people. They are afraid that they will need to shelter to their neighbors in winter.

The sea has encroached on the village of Adlia for several years, with the sea grabbing nearly 7 meters of land in that time. The surrounding population has urged for help, yet the repair work has not been implemented yet. At the moment, the only action taken has been throwing the hotel ruins onto the beach.

The ruins that left on the seaside as a buffer were not evenly spread over the space either. Levan Dolidze, the Deputy Governor of the Khelvachauri Municipality, stated that “We will borrow a tractor from somebody and have it spread the ruins out around the area. The tractor is too expensive to buy so we have to rent it each time.”
 
“They brought those ruins and left them here. Was that enough? The Khelvachauri district governor is ashamed to meet us and that is why he does not come here,” says Suliko Dolidze. For more than a year, his house has been in disrepair and impossible to inhabit. The storm destroyed the basement and the walls of the house.

Only a dog met us in Dolidze’s house when we went to take photos. The dog was protecting its master’s property.

The Dolidzes built the house 25 years ago 150-200 meters away from the seaside. The hostess of the family, Esma Bezhanidze, is angry because those who built it did not foresee the possibility of an up-coming natural threat. Since 2003, their house has borne the brunt of many sea-based storms. Now only half of the building is still standing. They lived in their neighbors’ house for more than two years as other families also needed to do. Nine other families living at the seaside have become used to the danger. One of them, Ms. Lamara, hoped a letter she handed to the President would help her, but today she says she was foolish to rely on it. “I gave this letter to the President personally. He promised me that he would put Levan Varshalomidze in the charge of our problem. The problem is very serious, however, and they should at least repair the barriers now.”

The state pays only 150 lari on a monthly basis to the three families who have sheltered their neighbors. Levan Dolidze says that, “the municipality has paid 12,180 lari over two years to rent flats for the families whose homes were damaged by the natural disasters. Other kinds of allowances have not been issued to those families.”

Nine other families expect similar compensation as the sea is approaching their houses, too. These people are waiting for a reply from the government, hopefully before another storm hits and they lose more of their plots to the sea.

The government did its duty by monitoring weather and setting up a forecast center. The press-service center for the Environmental Ministry stated that the, “Monitoring and Forecast Center has investigated the situation in the area and prepared conclusions. We cannot, however, send the documents to you. At the moment the Adjara Authority is to carry out negotiations with the appropriate firms to start reconstruction activities.”

Irakli Cheishvili, the Spokesman of the Adjara Authority, states that, “this problem is not within the competence of the Adjara Authority; the central government should resolve this problem. I know that a special commission was set up to deal with the issue.”

Bakur Bolkvadze, a lawyer for the Human Rights Center’s Adjara office, stated that a solution to the problem is essential for the residents of Adlia and must be immediately resolved. “Neither local nor central government has done anything for many years. Meanwhile, the sea has continued to grab a considerable part of the shore. If it continues in this way, the seaside area of the region will face serious danger. We call upon the government to take appropriate action regarding the shore.”

Maka Malakmadze, Batumi


News