The President of Georgia visited the new neighborhood that was particularly built for 352 families of refugees from Abkhazia. Mikheil Saakashvili toured around the area and spoke with the local residents. The Head of State visited the first residents of the neighborhood and congratulated them on the new settlement, Christmas and the New Year.
While talking to the hosts, the Head of State focused attention on the development of Imereti and noted that rehabilitating infrastructure will assist in developing a better quality of life, creating jobs, and attracting tourists.
“Kutaisi had no prospects several years ago and Tskaltubo was even more hopeless. Everything has changed radically today. Things are developing in three ways: First – living quarters have been built for the refugees from Abkhazia. Second, the sanatoria have been freed and we will start rehabilitating the tourist infrastructure, which will be assisted by the opening of Kutaisi International Airport. Third – rehabilitation of Kutaisi. Proximity to Kutaisi gives Tskaltubo more opportunities and prospects. Accordingly, Tskaltubo is no longer a town where people were forced to move and later abandoned” – noted Mikheil Saakashvili.
The President of Georgia expressed interest in the water irrigation systems of the neighborhood since it was problematic recently. As the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure – Ramaz Nikolaishvili explained to the President, the population is receiving water with no more problems, however the entire water system is being replaced currently, which will provide 24 hour supply of water in the future.
Mikheil Saakashvili also touched on the issue of employment of the refugees. As he noted, it is not enough to provide a living space for people, it is necessary to employ them. As the President explained, the government is relocating refugees to places where prospects of employment are high.
“Every place where we relocated refugees has prospects of employment. For example, Poti, where there are a lot of jobs. We are also relocating them to Batumi where there is a huge demand for specialists and Tskaltubo, where there will soon be lots of jobs; a town practically attached to Kutaisi. The same could be said about Zugdidi, because along with constructing Lazika and designing a seaport many people will find jobs. We won’t solve the problems of our population by just giving them a living space – the next step should be employing them.” – stated the President of Georgia.
While talking to them, Mikheil Saakashvili noted that the rehabilitation of Tskaltubo began tp provide better condition for the refugees. According to him, today he fulfilled the promise that he first of all gave to himself– the new apartments saved these people from incredibly hard conditions. As the President stated, children will be brought up in much better conditions now and won’t even remember the poverty, which their parents lived through.
The President of Georgia thinks that the new residents will soon use these apartments as summer houses, because he deeply believes that very soon they will return to their original homes.
10 apartment buildings have been built for the refugees at April 9th Street. The territory around has also been rehabilitated: Asphalt, street lights and gasification, as well as irrigation and water systems; trees have been planted and a sports field installed for the children. 500 people were employed in the process of rehabilitating the neighborhood, most of which were local residents.
The project was implemented within the scope of the agreement of Georgia and the EU and managed by the Municipal Development Foundation at the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.