Anaklia after KaZantip Festival
No precise information about how many millions the former government poured into Anaklia - Gamukhuri development projects has been released yet.
As you remember, the Nationals claimed that the extravagant investments would triple or even quadruple our income. Many deemed this project to be Saakashvili’s sudden whim; however, when PM Gharibashvili took the lid off his plans to build an international port there, everyone decided that the era of stagnation had ended in Anaklia-Ganmukhuri; however, the city has continued to dwell in stagnation.
I have recently visited Anakli-Ganmukhuri to find out whether anything special was happening there. I knew that the government had already expressed its desire to build an international port in the city.
I strolled down the streets, walked through the parks and squares that resembled uninhabited islands without even a single soul to talk with. Anaklia was like a wasteland; as the managers of local hotels told me here, not even a single conference, concert or meeting was held here after summer.
You will come across a Christmas tree in the Hotel Anaklia; however, the building itself is empty. The same can be said about other hotels as well. The only man I saw in the glass Justice Ministry building was a guard, while on my way back I only encountered hunters, fishermen and tattered palm trees.
The situation is identical in Ganmukhuri. The only thing that is developing there is the so-called Indian project, which envisions new cottages and houses being built.
Shota, resident of Anaklia: “We never believed this fairy-tail and never thought that Anaklia would become a full-fledged city. However, we also did not expect that silence and only silence would reign here. If nothing changes for the better soon, we will be pushed to the brink of disaster. This indifferent attitude will exacerbate this process even more.
However, gas pipes have already been installed here and as they promise the project will be seen through in spring. Battered roads are being repaired as well and this gives us hope that some positive changes will still brought about into our lives.”
- Did the KaZantip Festival bring you any income?
Mariami, a resident of Anaklia: “Most of us ended up losing rather than gaining. Personally I had to provide visitors with my own food, since prices on products were incredibly high during the festival. People who opened cafes and bars for KaZantip are on the rocks now and paying out debts. I don’t even know what they were thinking back then. How could they have sold a pack of cigarettes for 10 GEL for instance? This is something totally insane. It could have easily been predicted that visitors would leave Anaklia for Batumi or Kobuleti and this is precisely what happened – Anaklia became abandoned.
