The Press Speaker of the President of Georgia began her traditional briefing with the details about the hospital sector development program. According to her, December and January will be distinguished in this sense and 30 new hospitals will be opened this month.
“Khoni, Terjola, Tkibui, Lagodekhi, and Tsalka medical facilities have already become functional. New clinics will start functioning in various cities of Georgia within the next few weeks. The promise made by the government about opening 100 new hospitals is being kept and in 2011-2012 new medical facilities will start functioning around the entire country.” – stated Manana Manjgaladze.
The Press Speaker focused attention on the President’s initiative to build a new city, Lazika. According to her, the name of the new city was not chosen accidentally. It is based on a historical reality.
“This will be a new modern city and the planning of its conception has already begun. Lazika will become a trade, economic, and commercial center not only for western Georgia but the entire country. Nobody has the illusion that the city will be built in one day or even one year. This is at minimum a ten year project. The construction work will begin in spring 2012. The main infrastructural groundwork will be completed in 2012-2013 and a part of the city will be built by 2015” – noted the Press Speaker.
According to Manana Manjgaladze, the main advantage of this location is its natural surroundings, which will be very attractive, especially for investors. Aside from private investments the government will finance part of the project. She also drew attention to the fact that it is not easy to build a new city, but she added that the government has already had experience building a new city – Anaklia.
The Press Speaker also touched on the issue of building a new seaport and noted that this is very important in terms of developing the region.
Manana Manjgaladze also answered questions asked by the journalists. One question was related to the current events in Russia. According to the Press Speaker, it is the business of international observing missions to assess the situation there. However, she noted that illegal elections are taking place in the occupied territories of Georgia, which is in violation of International Law. According to the Press Speaker, such illegality is taking place not only in Georgia but around Dniester, Ukraine as well.