Roman Gotsiridze: What is happening on Rustaveli Avenue is a true reflection of the corrupt and incompetent regime of Georgian Dream
Former opposition politician, former Member of Parliament and former President of the National Bank of Georgia, Roman Gotsiridze, says that the situation surrounding the ongoing rehabilitation works on Rustaveli Avenue is “the true face of a corrupt and incompetent regime.”
Gotsiridze believes that the government should resign over the kind of “irresponsible, unsanitary and dangerous infrastructure chaos” currently unfolding on Rustaveli Avenue.
“About 30 years ago, I attended a scientific conference in a small German town called Rheine, located near the Dutch border. The visit coincided with the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus. Although I didn't have a ticket, I decided to take my chances, boarded a train and headed to Amsterdam. Not only were there no tickets available, but hotels in Amsterdam and the surrounding towns were also fully booked. I eventually managed to find a room in Haarlem, where I watched the match.
Tens of thousands of fans were arriving by train from Italy and Spain. One of the main streets leading from the central railway station towards the heart of the city was undergoing metro construction. Due to unstable ground conditions, it was impossible to dig a tunnel, so the construction was being carried out using the open-cut method – roughly the same way it is being done on Rustaveli Avenue today. Thousands of Italian and Spanish supporters were making their way towards the stadium along the pavement of this construction site, singing as they went. The construction area was so perfectly isolated that neither mud made a mess nor dust from piles of sand caused any inconvenience.
What is happening on Rustaveli Avenue today is the true face of Georgian Dream's corrupt and incompetent regime. To them, people mean nothing – they deceive, mock and rob citizens and deprive them of their freedom.
In a normal country, the government would resign on the very same day over such irresponsible, unsanitary and dangerous infrastructure chaos as the one on Rustaveli Avenue.
But these people are not going to resign. They need to be ousted, and that is exactly what will happen,” Gotsiridze wrote.
The opposition politician had previously commented on the rehabilitation works on Rustaveli Avenue in an earlier statement. The economist drew attention to an unexpected increase of GEL 2 million in road surfacing costs, as well as the GEL 12.5 million allocated for pavements. According to Gotsiridze, the City Hall's decision to impose a symbolic fine on the construction company is merely an attempt to deceive the public.
“What is happening on Rustaveli Avenue? The construction will, of course, drag on, as it always does, and the costs (that is, the money to be pocketed) will increase. The initial cost of the road surfacing works was GEL 19.8 million, but another GEL 2 million has now been added. To create the illusion of taking action, City Hall has fined the construction company 13 times, imposing a total penalty of just GEL 27,000, which is, to put it mildly, comical. And this only concerns the road surfacing works. A separate company is working on the pavements, with its services expected to cost GEL 12.5 million. That amount will also be increased, of course. This is how municipal and state budgets are looted. Tbilisi is particularly notorious in this regard,” Gotsiridze wrote earlier.
