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When You Are So Close To the Frontier

March 11, 2013

Salome Chkheidze

Within 1 km from the centre of village Odzisi there is a conditional frontier border and in 5 km there is the territory of occupied Akhalgori Municipality. Locals from border-line villages say that they have lots of problems and they need more attention from government.

Aleksandre Chitashvili is 76 years old. He comes from Odzisi. He left the village when he was 13 and he came back after he retired on a pension.

“There are lots of problems in Odzisi, but lack of water is most urgent. Regularly we have neither drinking-water nor irrigation water. 2 years ago they cleaned the tanks and transferred water from the valley, but it does not come permanently and we are in this situation. In addition to this the irrigation water became a problem for us too. After war the Ossetian blocked irrigation canal and majority of plot of lands are left without water. Last year our harvest was not good enough. Because of this some people gave up cultivation. Villages need more care and patronage, especially border-line ones”,- says Aleksandre.

There are problems in the village in connection with vouchers given by the government in order to do springtime jobs. According to locals, as they are informed, if a person does not have more than 2500 square meter land he cannot get a voucher, as a tractor  cannot go to plough in a small plot. “Head of the village said that if we did not have enough plot to plough, we’d better give the vouchers back. At one time, they gave us 1000 square meter plots and if there is anyone who did not fence it or jointed with a neighbor, it turns out that tractor cannot enter it. Shall we take off our fences because of this?”-says one of the locals.

Last year they constructed gas pipes in the village, but only till the gates of houses. Locals had to take it to home by their own means, but only few families were available to do this. Majority of locals of Odzisi cannot afford buying pipes.

Gas is not the only problem for villagers. There is another one, the wood problem. Locals cannot take firewood from the forest  easily. It is dangerous to go up to Odzisi wood; you may discover yourself in “Tskhinvali”, as it happened to 2 Odzisi villagers in 2011. Giorgi Gurgenashvili and   Paata Javakhishvili were arrested by the military for illegal crossing of border and took them to Tskhinvali, from where they arrived after 80 days captivity.

Walking in the woods is dangerous as there is no frontier sign and for this you may easily discover yourself on the territory of Akhalgori.

According to inhabitants of Odzidsi government gave the territory to the village near small-town Jinvali, though bringing firewood form there is connected with expenses and this is a problem for inhabitants.

There is a 3-floor school building in the village, where approximately 80 children studies. Last year only 4 children were able to graduate 12th form.

Tornike Bekauri is one of these four children. He passed national exams and he continues his study at University. “There is nothing in the village to develop or to entertain. Our amusement is only village gathering here. That is why the young people leave the village; they try to live in the city. I am glad to pass my exams. Now I visit village only in my free time and it will be the same in future”-says Tornike.

There is no medical building and nor nursery school in village, that is a problem for the inhabitants. The ambulance car and fire-engine come from the district centre-Dusheti to Odzisi that is 25 km far from the village. Because of this there are cases when they come later and sometimes it has bad endings.

There are plenty of sightseeing in village. There is a church named after The Virgin sleep a while near the main road of Odzisi. Above it, there is a Kirk named after Saint Barbare in forest, but only belfry wall is remained from it and also the church named after Saint Marine, which is the oldest church in village.

Above the village, in mountain there is a church named after Saint George, where always go villagers on Giorgoba, but it is impossible to go there nowadays-now it is a territory of Akhalgori.

So close to the frontier, inhabitants of Odzisi feel the lost more.

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