Abandoned Houses Might Be Misappropriated in Akhalgori District

Mari Otarashvili, Akhalgori

People, resettled from Tskhinvali, might be lodged in the flats, which were locked during five years in Akhalgori district. Locals informed humanrights.ge about it.

According to the law passed by ex de-facto president of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoyti in 2009, “all communal flats belong to the state.” According to the same law, a person, who lives in the flat of residential block, cannot sell the flat. However, many people in Akhalgori sold their flats though at a very low price. 

There are about 10 residential blocks in Akhalgori. After the Armed Conflict of August, 2008 most flats were abandoned. Some of them were not opened during five years. People from Tskhinvali, who work in the district, rent several flats there. They send rent payment to the flat owners in Tserovani IDP settlement; sometimes owners manage to arrive in Akhalgori to get money.

The owners of similar flats either do not wish to or cannot return to their homes in Akhalgori. Some of them work for the legitimate government of Akhalgori or for Georgian law enforcement agencies; there are people, who participated in the 1990s ethnic conflict and cannot travel to Akhalgori for that reason.

Census was conducted in Akhalgori district several days ago. Representatives of the local de-facto communal service registered every resident of the district, who lived there.

After the census, local people doubt the locked flats will be seized from their owner; in addition to that, communal service started changing wooden frames and doors into metalo-plastic ones in the flats of the residential blocks. 

Not only flats are locked in the district; there are a lot of private houses, which are locked for a long time. Some of them have locks so rusty that it is easy to guess the owners have not opened it for a long time. The yards and gardens also look abandoned.

After August 2008 war, locals fled from the Ksani Gorge though no military operations were conducted there. Saakashvili’s government settled residents of Akhalgori district in Tserovani, Tsilkani and Prezeti. Those, who refused to settle in the cottages, the government paid them compensation – 10 000 USD equivalent in lari. Nevertheless, over 1000 residents of Akhalgori district remained without cottages and compensation. For that reason, there is allegation that commission corruptively distributed cottages and compensations. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating this fact for a long time. 

Unlike the IDPs from Liakhvi Gorge and Abkhazia, IDPs from Akhalgori have more privileges. If they take Travel Document N 9, they can arrive in Akhalgori without any problems.

It is noteworthy that some residents of residential blocks have returned to the district with their families for the past two years. However, number of returnees cannot change general picture.