The President of Georgia visited the new settlement for refugees in Batumi. The Head of State congratulated them on the new settlement as well as the New Year and Christmas holidays and toured their new living spaces that comply with modern standards. Mikheil Saakashvili actually drove the bus that took the refugees to their new settlement.
“I have wanted, for a long time, to drive you on this road myself, but I have a larger dream – to drive you on the road to Sokhumi but I will now take you to Batumi. Remember, that these apartments are now yours here; our homeland is there – in Abkhazia. The Tamarisi settlement has been well built. It has a combination of sea and mountain climates and it looks over palm trees. The houses have also been built beautifully” – noted the President of Georgia.
As Mikheil Saakashvili stated, the territory of the new refugee settlement looks like Western Europe in terms of infrastructure. He said that similar houses will also be built in the future.
The Head of State also noted that since the refugees moved from the Tskaltubo sanatorium to new housing, the investor promised to build a magnificent hotel in place of “Shaktior.” Construction of a first class hotel will be finished in the fall. In 2-3 years this resort will look like Marrakech, Morocco which it already resembles in some ways.
“Tskaltubo has the highest potential of all of the resorts of Georgia. That is why what is currently being done in Tskaltubo means new life for this resort. When the local sanatoria are privatized, every one of them will have an owner. They will be rehabilitated and used by tourists in the future. Considering all of this, Tskaltubo must become 100% employed. This place has so many prospects that we may even have to bring workforce from Kutaisi in order to meet the demand. Batumi has a similar situation –so many projects are being implemented that in a few years it will be unimaginable that someone is unemployed – everybody will have work to do. The most important thing is that the state has not abandoned anyone and the refugee program we are implementing is the most successful in the world. This is not my words, nor is it bragging. This is what the international organizations admit. “– stated Mikheil Saakashvili while speaking with the new settlers.
Mikheil Saakashvili also drew attention to the prospects of developing Adjara. According to him, the worst houses were built here during the times of the Soviet Union, but once Georgia was free, we built new houses that comply with modern standards. According to the Head of State, the living conditions will improve even more here. The construction of roads and water infrastructure will become the source of people’s employment.
The President of Georgia noted that the number of facilities that produce brand named items is increasing in Adjara. As he noted, soon Adidas is going to open a factory here and people living in this neighborhood will be employed. As he noted, these persons have experience in trading and they will have an opportunity to use their skills.
Mikheil Saakashvili received information from the Head of the Adjara Autonomous Republic regarding the construction of new factories. There will be two factories opened here within 2-3 months including a textile factory, which will employ 1,200 people and a thread factory, which will employ 300 people. Construction of a large trade center is also being planned, which will employ at least 1,000 people. As Levan Varshalomidze explained, the new settlers of these neighborhoods will not have a problem finding jobs.
There are 22 apartment buildings in the new neighborhood, which were built for 3,000 refugees. The territory around it has also been accommodated within the scope of the project: asphalt cover, gasification, street lights, water, irrigation systems, trees, and sport fields for children. 608 families found homes in the new buildings that have two or three room apartments. Each apartment has natural gas, water, and gas heaters.
Up to 5,000 people were employed for the construction of the new neighborhood, most of which are local residents. The project was implemented within the scope of the agreement between Georgia and the European Union. The work was coordinated by the Municipal Development Foundation of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.