What is the cost of the New Year?

Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

Every municipality of Georgia celebrates the New Year with concerts regardless social and infrastructural problems in their territorial entities. The local budget funds the concerts and New Year illuminations. What is the cost of the New Year celebration in Rustavi municipality – we asked this question to the Rustavi City Hall, where we were told that 169 688 GEL will be spent on New Year celebration in Rustavi.

The allocated sum will be spent on the following: 80 000 GEL was already spent on the installment of New Year lights in Rustavi; 81 787 GEL will be spent on the new year concert – singers Gio Khutsishvili, Tornike Kipiani’s band and local musical groups will participate in the concert; 8 901 GEL will be spent on the presents for the beneficiaries of the Rustavi day centers for the disabled persons, orphanages and asylum for elderly people Ksenon. 

In comparison to 2017, Rustavi city budget spent less funds on the new year celebration in 2016. As Kvemo Kartli Information Webportal kkpress.ge reported on December 30, 2015, 132 840 GEL was spent on the new year celebrations in the city. In 2014 the local budget spent even less funds on the new year celebrations – according to the results of the tender competition, Rustavi budget paid only 47 000 GEL for the new year celebration.

Rustavi residents have different opinions whether local budget shall spend solid sums on new year celebration or not. One part of the society states it is better to spend the funds on social programs because of hard social situation in the city but there are people who believe it is necessary for the city and suggest the local authority to install new year lights in the outskirts of the city too. 

“They did not select new year lights properly. In some places they installed lights similar to traffic lights; who liked and purchased it? Some lights are from previous years and they do not work. Only this old new year tree is well illuminated; what they did is not enough and of bad taste,” Nina Kvaratskhelia, resident of Rustavi, told humanrights.ge.

 

Mzia Grdzelishvili from Rustavi is not bothered about old illumination in the city. She said her main problem for New Year is how to prepare special dishes for the holiday.

“I do not feel like holiday and to tell the truth I do not look at illuminations at all. People are so poor that I do not think it is reasonable to spend money on similar things. It is not necessary to spend money on similar decorations, when elderly people are begging in the street,” Mzia Grdzelishvili said.