Press Digest 12.12.2013

Thousands of Georgians may freeze to death in winter

Thousands of Georgians may freeze to death in winter

“In Georgia, around 10 thousand people lack all means to endure the upcoming inclement winter. A great deal of them may even freeze to death on Tbilisi’s streets.

“The garage, where we live, has no address and, accordingly, we are not supplied with electricity; however, Tbilisi City Hall employees and other authorities are numb to our pleas for help; as they say, they did not manage to find our garage; I have been confined to bed for a month and I will probably soon kick the bucket. I do not care about myself, but how will my ill daughter manage to pass through these terrible mishaps, when I die? I think about her day and night”, states a desperate woman - living in a garage in Kutaisi - in her interview with the paper Rezonansi.

“As Davit Narmania, Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure informs, at this point they are in search of territories where the shelters, mainly tents, will be put up for the homeless. “The people, who lack all kinds of accommodation and are bound to spend nights on the streets, will be provided with temporary shelters; for this purpose, we plan to put up special tents which will be supplied with electricity, heat, mobile kitchen and medical supplies. The Extraordinary Situation Management Center will be permanently provided with information regarding the homeless people and socially vulnerable part of society”, maintains Davit Narmania.

“As the Regional Ministry informs, Batumi is not in need of temporary shelters. As for other large cities, such as Kutaisi and Rustavi, they will also be provided with heating means in due course. As Georgia’s Ministry of Health informs, 10 thousand Georgians throughout the country are in desperate need of assistance. These people may apply to the Socials Service Agency with the request to be provided with temporary shelters”, reports the paper.

“As the Public Defender maintains, putting up tents for the homeless is a step in the right direction; however, according to him, this initiation will only temporarily tackle the homeless issue; in order to hammer out this acute problem once and for all, the government must elaborate a complex state policy; a homeless database must be created by counting the homeless throughout the country”, reads the statement issued by Ucha Nanuashvili.

“Barrister Nikoloz Legashvili completely shares the Public defender’s position; according to him, the decision to provide the homeless with temporary shelters can be defined as right; however, as he states, more affective measures must necessarily be taken in this direction in the nearest future.

On Human Rights Day, December 10, the representatives of “Tbilisi Human Rights House” paid a visit to the families who are temporarily accommodated at the Lechkombinaty Building; as lawyer Nikoloz Legashvili alleges, these families lack all necessary living conditions, and severe weather can really pose a lethal threat to them. The Law of Social Assistance envisages providing the hapless people with accommodations and all other kinds of assistance; however, the public officials have deflected the responsibility of helping the socially vulnerable part of our society thus far”, reads the paper.