Batumi City Hall Destroys Garages with the Help of Special Operation Group

Batumi City Hall Destroys Garages with the Help of Special Operation Group

Batumi City Hall Supervision Service Department began destroying the garages in Khimshiashvili str. with the help of Special Operation Group. The district inhabitants, having been informed about the dismantling three days earlier, appealed to the court. Though, the garages were destroyed before the court verdict.

Khimshiashvili str. Inhabitants demand the response from the president: “Is this the defending Human Rights and inviolability of property? Where is the president? When he needed votes, he used to meet people?!”- declared Omar Kokoladze.

“Is this constitution? Should we destroy and rebuild everything as frequently as we elect a new president? One government let us build, while the second makes us destroy it”- declare garage-owners.

According to the people, having received a letter about the dismantling from City Hall, they appealed to the court on the very next day, on Friday. “Nobody awaited the verdict, they came and began destroying” - declared one of the garage owners, Luiza Beridze. According to her, City Hall allowed her to build the garage in 1992: “The land was assigned to us, and we paid 7 thousand rubles for it. We observed all standards of constructing”.

According to Gela Makharadze Head of City Hall Juristic Service Department, dismantling was complied on legal grounds.

Dato Darchia, Head of Batumi City Hall Supervision Service Department, declares to us: “The part of the garages was built on legal grounds, but they were built on the state area and when the state needs it, government can take it away from the population, though it must be compensated. We have special permission, dated by February, 14, to remove all ugly buildings. The population will be compensated with 100GEL for 1 sq. m of the removed building; the sum is enrolled from the City Hall budget.

According to Emzar Paksadze, a lawyer of one of the citizens, “the Court made Batumi government halt the court decision according to what garages were to be dismantled. The property of this citizen could not be removed until the verdict. If other people also appealed to the court, the similar should be their situation. Or if they did not appeal yet, in any case the permission of the population was necessary”.

In the contrary to this case, the rest of population declares that they had appealed to the court, though nobody took it into consideration. Moreover, Merab Andguladze, resisting the police during dismantling the garages, was arrested. Court sentenced him to a day imprisonment.

Maka Malakmadze, Batumi