IDPs Complain about Poor Living Conditions

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

State Strategy Plan about IDPs was enacted by the government of Georgia in May of 2010. Implementation of the plan has started and it aims to build new collective residential centers for 84 900 IDPs and new houses for 11 500 IDPs. According to official data, Municipal Development Fund of Georgia has signed 86 contracts with total price of 75 million GEL. Among them, 17 collective centers are rehabilitated throughout Georgia and 4 of them are in Kutaisi. The IDPs living in the collective centers claim the reconstruction activities were carried out at a very poor quality.

“The quality is the most important and not the number of the reconstructed houses. Apparently, our government does not acknowledge this fact. Which of the four reconstructed collective centers is renovated properly? The governmental officials open those buildings and it is shown on TV but soon IDPs start protest rallies. Is it properly done job? Is our government going to build our country like that?!” said an IDP from Abkhazia Eter Khutkubia who lives in the building of former military lyceum in Kutaisi.

Eter Khutkubia said before the government sheltered her in the newly-reconstructed house, she had lived in the building of former nursery-garden in Asatiani Street in Kutaisi and they did not have poor living conditions there. “Five families were evicted from there and sheltered in here. We did not want to live here at all but since they evicted us from our old shelter, we hoped we would have normal living conditions. But here, in winter walls are wet.”

The IDPs have lived in the building of the former military lyceum since March 2, 2009. They started to complain about the government soon after the settlement. The newly renovated walls got wet after the first rain and inhabitants faced many problems; later it ended with the cut off the electricity supply and many dark nights.

“We met the New Year in darkness and with many problems. “Energo-Pro Georgia” cut off the electricity supply because of accumulated debts and we spent two weeks in candle light. How can we pay the bills of 1 000 GEL?! Nobody cares about it. We get only 22 GEL as an allowance a month and it is not enough for bread either. If they had supplied the building with gas and we would not have had so many problems,” said representative of the IDP Association “Hope of Future -2010” Julieta Gvhichiani.

 IDPs living in the building of former kindergarten in Belorussian Street N 24, Kutaisi have similar problems. 16 families were sheltered there on August 24, 2009. They coped with the first problems from the very first days of their settlement. IDPs from Abkhazia have been trying to improve their living conditions in vain.

“These people have many problems to start from poor building end with poor drinking water. Because of their problems we have petitioned to the regional investigative department within the department for revenues. We requested them to study the problems of IDPs in their residential building and find out all violations the reconstruction company had done during their activities. In short, we requested them to investigate whether the employed company and members of inspecting group had signed any financial or other contracts because we doubt about it. We could not get a reply from them for many months but finally they declared our request was groundless,” said chairwoman of the Kutaisi City Committee of Republic Party Nato Katamadze. She is going to appeal to the prosecutor’s office regarding this fact.

Apparently, the local authority does not care about the quality of the collective center of IDPs. Officials of the Kutaisi City Hall clarified that the implemented activities were within the competence of the Municipal Development Fund of Georgia and the Fund is responsible for the quality of the reconstructed building.

According to official data, members of the so called inspecting group, who were entitled to control the reconstruction activities, were appointed under resolution of the Kutaisi City Mayor Nugzar Shamugia. They are obliged to check the quality of the implemented job and prepare corresponding conclusion.