Population has been protesting the processing of aluminum oxide, bauxite and other substances in the Foti Port for many years already. The contraversy on how harmful those substances are for the health is still too actual for the population and Foti Sea Port Ltd.
The reason of controversy between the parties was the death Arsen Zarkua, docker-mechanic at the port who was claimed to be poisoned by aluminum oxide; it was concluded by court-chemical expert. However, in most cases the conclusions and arguments of the population and Foti Sea Port Administration do not coincide with each other.
Docker-mechanic of the Foti Port, thirty-seven-year-old Arsen Zarkua, an IDP from Abkhazia, died on August 29 2002. He was buried in the village of Nakhunao in Martvili District where he lived with his family.
On November 28 2002 a widow of Zarkua, Khatuna Khabeishvili applied to the Foti Port Administration where she requested pension for the death of her husband. The submitted documents were enclosed by medical certificate issued at the Foti Medical Clinic # 1. The notice was dated by September 3 2002 and it stated that the reason for death was coronal insufficiency and heart ischemia.
On December 16 2002 Khatuna Khabeishvili submitted another appeal to the Port Administration which was enclosed by another medical notice dated by September 5, 2002. The new notice was signed by M. Gakhokia, a court-medical expert of the Martvili Distinct and it stated that the reason for the death was poisoning by aluminum oxide which had caused acute insufficiency of blood circulation.
Similar controversial medical certificates became ground for Foti Sea Port not to consider poisoning from aluminum oxide real reason for Arsen Zarkua’s death. Moreover, the port administration did not take part in the exhumation of the body.
On January 8 2003 Khatuna Khabeishvili appealed to the Foti Civil Prosecutor’s Office to estimate the real reasons for her husband’s death. On October 15 2003 L. Sarjveladze, assistant to the Civil Prosecutor discussed the materials on the death of Arsen Zarkua and concluded that case materials did not have any records on crime. Consequently the investigation was not launched on the fact.
The widow appealed against the prosecutor’s conclusion at the Court. On April 2 2004 Foti Court satisfied Khatuna Khabeishvili’s appeal and found the medical certificate of Martvili Medical Expertise valid and concluded that the death of Arsen Zarkua was caused by settling aluminum oxide in the lungs of the death person. Judge Aleksandre Goguadze charged Foti Sea Port to pay 39 746 lari to the victim family as a compensation. According to court decision the family of Zarkua received a monthly allowance of 246 lari as well.
The board of the Foti Sea Port appealed against the Civil Court decision at the Kutaisi Appeal Court and then at the Georgian Supreme Court. However, the initial verdict was not changed at any instances.
Despite the court decision, Ltd “Foti Sea Port” Administration considers that the decision was made based on fraudulent medical certificate. Suzana Kvachantiradze, Legal Director of the Foti Sea Port: “Port administration has always requested to estimate real reasons for Arsen Zarkua’s death. Jemal Inaishvili, former head of the Port, applied to the Foti and Martvili Prosecutor’s Offices several times as well as to N. Gabrichidze, former Prosecutor General, though in vain. They claim that the body was exhumed but we did not attend it. It is complete absurd that aluminum oxide was discovered in the lung of the dead man. The trace of the substance cannot be discovered in similar way. The court considered only one circumstance that Arsen Zarkua had two little children and such a wealthy organization like Foti Port should manage to pay the compensation.”
Nino Jibladze, member of the NGO “Faziseli”: “If aluminum oxide is not harmful, if it was not reason for that young man’s death why does the port pay them the compensation?! Foti Sea Port is not a small organization; though it is not so wealthy to give away compensations without any reasons. They actually hire only cheap employees there.”
The fact that Arsen Zarkua’s death is not connected with the poisoning from aluminum oxide is reinforced by several other arguments produced by the port administration. There is a certificate of January 13 2003 in the case materials where M. Gakhokia, court-medical expert of Martvili District applies to Jemal Inaishvili, the former head of the port and requests not to consider the certificate issued on September 5 2002 a legal document because it consists of several mistakes.
The expert points out in the appeal that the certificate was drawn up according to Revaz Dzidziguri’s urge, the uncle of Khatuna Khevishvili stating he needed it to produce to the IDP Committee.
There is one more interesting circumstance in the long-term history of the tragedy and controversy between two parties. Law enforcement bodies have not got interested into the fraudulent certificate signed by expert Gakhokia yet; neither they have started investigation nor launched legal prosecution on him.
Since 2002 population and NGOs have been holding protest demonstration occasionally. They demanded the port administration to stop the processing of so-called “black cargo”-aluminum oxide, bauxite and other substances. Demonstrators stated that those raw materials consist of dangerous substances and are dangerous for the health. Docker-mechanics working on the port did not or could not protest the fact; they did not say anything because they did not want to lose their jobs. Residents of the residential block of flats located close to the port still protest the processing of the natural chemicals in the area.
Nino Jibladze: “There is a residential block of flats in the area and nearly 60 families live in it. People have problems of windpipe and lungs. Although they have their windows shut, in windy day the aluminum oxide dust go into their flats; they cannot dry laundry on their verandas; children cannot play in the yard…I do not want to exaggerate the situation but I should say that Foti dwellers have chemical substances as desert three times a day. Their lives are similar to the heirs of Egyptian Pharaohs who were given certain amount of poison from the very birth to get used to it.”
Jumber Kemularia, the chairman of the Society for Anticorruption and Human Rights Protection, stated that while unloading the chemical substances from the ship the security and technical norms are generally violated. “They unload powder of aluminum oxide from the ships. Initially it is put on the surrounding area and then is loaded on the carriages of trains…the security norms are violated; workers do not have respirators, they only use surgical mouth-caps, they are not given sufficient food and their wages are minimal…”
The administration of Ltd “Foti Sea Port” applied to JSC Scientific Research Institute of Labor, Medicine and Environment named after N. Makhviladze to conduct research on publicized issue of aluminum oxide processing. As the administration of the port assured us the conclusions based on the raid conducted in July, 2006 in the dock # 10 shows that all labor security measures were assumed while loading aluminum oxide and the quantity of this material spread in the air was not dangerous for the population.
Nino Jibladze: “Apparently the administration reads the conclusion backward. It truly reads there that “the concentration of aluminum oxide exceeds the norm 2, 5 times at the working place of docker-mechanics and at the bunker reception; it exceeds the norm at 4, 1 times near the rail-ways and 1, 3 times near the carriage.”It is indicated therein that clay aluminum oxide will not influence the health of workers if the security measures are assumed…Nobody will allow you to examine it. The Port gate is closed for NGOs.”
Suzana Kvachantiradze connects the on-going fuss about the port with the up-coming presidential elections. “Aluminum oxide topic is usually used against the port by the oppositionists during the pre-election campaign. There are no cases of injuries or some other incidents…it is a governmental organization; the cargo that makes 27 % of the total amount of transported shipment is too serious. Somebody has personal interests in it and tries to find fault on our activities…”
Aluminum is received after processing of the aluminum oxide and bauxite. The third substance worked out at the Foti Port is a raw material for cement. All three substances have been worked out at the port since 1999 by “Peisi”. Foti dwellers have always wondered who the lobbyist of the so-called “Black Cargo” is because each time they breathe the dust they remember him/her. They miss the fresh air they breathed from the Black Sea years ago.
Nana Pazhava, Foti
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