The President of Georgia addressed the population of Akhmeta

3/5/2012

First of all, I would like to welcome everyone,

I welcome the Minister of Health of Belarus to our friendly country, and the members of his delegation, who have joined us here today. We always welcome our brothers and friends.

We have a celebration in Akhmeta today and we all are surely happy, yet there are other kinds of people too. A friend of mine sent me a message the other day and I have heard about such talk as well: “Misha opened hospitals, but did not have any patients. They have placed some man with a tie and his shoes on in the bed and because they were running short of time, put a bedspread over him without him even undressing”.

These people seriously speak about this and even say that the equipment in the hospitals is being carried around to various places.  

In reality, the one who makes this up is most irritated by the people’s right to equality and also by the fact that even he did not have access to such comforts before. 

I hardly believe this myself sometimes when I look at these 5 star hotel level facilities.

The opening of these hospitals today brings joy not only to the patients, but to doctors as well, as precisely the doctors were the ones who were helped the least and were in worst conditions.

Patients would hardly ever visit clinics, but the doctors would always stay – stay without salaries, in the unbearable conditions and half devastated buildings.

In light of the idea of equality, the highest standard clinics were at first opened where the people need it most, where people are traditionally poor and they need assistance the most.

First of all, Georgia belongs to each of its citizen, but the major attention is needed for those who were helped the least and lacked rights. 

Every person should have equal rights and opportunities, including these hospitals – it is as mine, just like it is yours; the roads are being built that I, as well as you use; the same is with the new schools – each of them is mine, as well as yours. No income, no apartment and accounts, even in the Swiss bank, can substitute the process of the reconstruction of your country, that you create conditions for your citizens together with your colleagues; that no one takes bribes, that no one humiliates citizens – is it possible to exchange this with anything? It can be exchanged neither with money nor with prosperity.

This is exactly what I meant when I said at parliament - I and our ministers will be better-off and richer, when our country and people live better.

This does not appear in any declaration. My property declaration is not much different from that of what I had 5-6 years ago. My declaration is Georgia as a whole – New Mtatusheti, which we will renovate and refurbish – will be my declaration; My declaration will be new Telavi; new Kvareli; our declaration will be new Lazika’ new Batumi, new Tbilisi and so on. This is what we will present before our people, the world and history and precisely this will be our joint declaration.

This is the difference between our mentality and the mentality of our conqueror. Russia bombed two places of Georgian before 2008 – Abkhazia and Akhmeta. You and I remember this too well.

The decisive factor there is how much money the official has in his pocket. The money, first of all is given to the official there and they do everything for it not to reach the people.

No matter what happens in that country considering their course, their politics, no matter what kind of elections they hold or stage, with the current leadership they have no future, as they are building the past. They are doing this not only by restoring the Soviet anthem, restoring the soviet empire or employing Soviet Union or Eurasian Union slogans, but they are mentally reversing their country back in time.

As for us, we are building the future, which means that we will certainly reach our set goals.

They kept saying during all this period that they do not have problems with the Georgian people; according to them they only had a problem with the Georgian leadership.

The main sign of the Soviet Union and the old regime was that during the old regime the Soviet Union was always lying. They keep saying even today that they have no problems with Georgian people. And if it is true, we decided to abolish the visa regime for the citizens of Russia, by which we gave them a chance to do something not for the Georgian leadership, but to do it for the Georgian people – to lift the visa regime for Georgian people. In response to this, just as we gave them a chance to do something for Georgian people, they immediately changed their first position. Moreover, as the successors of the Soviet Union, they have decided that they do not want their people to come to Georgia. In response to my proposal, they have decided two days ago that it is dangerous for Russians to visit Georgia.

Of course, this cannot be explained by the existence of criminality in Georgia. The crime rate in Georgia is five times less than that of Russia and everyone knows about this. The Russians have substantiated their decision by the fact that there is no Russian Embassy in Georgia.

I would not only open an embassy in their place, but also send Onishenko for supervision – they can be infected by the “virus” non-corrupt, free country, can they? And then attempt to do the same in their own country. This is the difference between us and them.

Not only we are not afraid of sending our citizens anywhere, but we are not even afraid of allowing the citizens of the country that occupies a very significant part of our country even today. Our small country is convinced of its power, in its future and development.

For this, we need to develop particularly rapidly, build remarkably to a great extent, work particularly hard and spread our wings wide open. The day is not far, when Georgia will finally be free.

The one who builds in the past cannot have a future. The one, who builds bases on our territory and forms barbed wires, cannot have the hope to maintain this territory in the future as well.

 The quicker we build our future, the sooner will our occupied territories find their place in this future.

These are the examples of our history.

But, we need to look after this place before that, we need to build roads in all directions, like have been built Gombori; we need to build the best school in all regions of Georgia, finish the gasification process, finish the data countering process, replace the electrical transit lines and posts, so that the electricity does not go off every other moment, we need to finish with the installation of water systems everywhere and ensure free insurance or access to insurance, so that everyone can afford to come to these hospitals. Besides this, we need to create new jobs in the spheres of agriculture and tourism, so that the youth is employed.

All of this is certainly realistic and accessible. All of this is just as possible as this beautiful hospital – in this beautiful district.

Thank you my friends.