We understand it very well that you have long been waiting for apartment units. We have all been through a lot of ordeals through years since temporarily losing our old, historic territories. I know it well that the pain caused by this war is huge. It was stated by Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia when addressing the audience at the housing ceremony for internally displaced persons (IDP) and households in Kutaisi today.
According to Irakli Garibashvili, 20% of the country is occupied nowadays and it is a temporary occupation.
“First and foremost, I wish to greet and welcome our dear local residents, our people, our children, the youth, members of the parliament and government. I wish to greet the Mayor of Kutaisi and the Governor. I wish to greet you – my dear ones – with special warmth and love.
We understand it very well that you have long been waiting for apartment units. We have all been through a lot of ordeals through years since temporarily losing our old, historic territories. I know it well that the pain caused by this war is huge. Lives of many compatriots were lost in these wars and – what is most important – 20% of our country is temporarily occupied nowadays. I believe that with the help of God and support of the almighty, with our right policies and result-driven and oriented policies, we will achieve the unification of our country. It is our common goal and great shared dream; it should be our national cause.
It is unfortunate that our politicians need to reflect on their responsibility – everyone, be that in the opposition or in power, authorities – over the unification of the country. If we ask anyone here what should be your main cause or thought, they will say that it is to return to your homes in Abkhazia and Samachablo. I believe that this day will come by all means, as our peaceful policies bring us close to this great goal every single day. I strongly believe in this. I am confident that there is no alternative to this” noted the Head of Government of Georgia.
As the Prime Minister of Georgia noted, construction of 3 residential blocks with 16 floors each has been completed. Apartment units in them will be assigned to 480 households, while 320 units will be ready shortly.
“We have been through a number of wars in the 90’s, followed by even bigger misfortune – the civil war and then the disastrous war of 2008, of course. We ended up having over 20 000 additional IDPs within the country and losing over 100 villages. Kodori Valley was foregone by the previous rule and so on and so forth. Of course, it is a pain, but I should also note that this ordeal makes our people stronger. We all – Georgians and those living on our land – should have a proper analysis of what happened.
Today we are celebrating the housing of our IDPs – temporary IDPs. I would refer to them as such, as I believe that you will return to Abkhazia. We will return to Abkhazia! Apartment units will be given to 480 IDPs. Construction of 3 residential blocks with 16 floors each has been completed and 480 households will get housed today. Construction of 320 apartment units will be completed shortly. You can see that construction is being completed here and in total 800 families will be housed in this quarter.
In addition, I wish to let you know that we launched the wide-scale works. You may well be aware that similar initiatives are undertaken in Tbilisi, Rustavi and Kutaisi. I plan to visit a new location soon after to see where we were starting the construction works. I am referring to a housing project designed for 720 families. Overall, 3 residential blocks of 12 floors each will be constructed and completed by the end of 2025. It is a project with a value of over 70 million. There as well, 720 families will get housed. In total, we gave apartment units to 31 000 families during the past 10 years. They have acquired title ownership over their apartments and houses.
We also launched a housing program in rural areas and it turned out to be equally successful. In the coming 2-3 years, 13 000 additional families will be housed. Out of this number, 7 000 will be apartment units and 6000 rural homes.
We are not comparing ourselves with anyone else, however others are comparing themselves with us. For comparison purposes let us recall the budget allocations in 2012. Our dear IDPs were earmarked 25 MLN GEL, while this year we allocated 233 MLN GEL towards this end. It is a 10-fold increase. This money will by all means be used for the construction of houses and apartment blocks, etc. With this we, of course, demonstrate our attitude towards you. This is our duty and our responsibility to create decent conditions for our citizens in temporary displacement. Nevertheless, I wish to note that I strongly believe and hope that we can do much more. I would wish such and even better houses to be built soon in Abkhazia. It should be our common goal together with you, Abkhazians and Ossetians. It should be our main goal, my friends. With peace, stability and prudent policies, we should aim at this. I believe that we will achieve this goal and our country will get united. We should all get united around this idea.
I want to wish all of you a sound health, first of all and prosperity. I want to wish you and your children – all of you, your families – to return to your original dwellings in Abkhazia and Samachablo. God be your protector!” added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Guests gathered at the event were also addressed by Zurab Azarashvili, Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Security of Georgia.
Irakli Garibashvili, accompanied by Zurab Azarashvili, visited one of the apartment units in the residential blocks.
Residential compound for IDP households in Kutaisi that is compatible with modern standards is located on Shervashidze Street. It was constructed by the Municipal Development Fund (MDF) of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.
