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Diseased Population Urges for Help

July 2, 2007

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On September 10 2004 great amount of petrol and gas exploded in the village of Ninotsminda in the Sagarejo District. The accident on the oil well # 100 of the Oil Company Canargo-Georgia lasted three days. As a result 220 acres of forest was destroyed. The water and the earth were polluted in the area. Population was poisoned with gas. Breast, throat and skin cancer has spread in several villages. Local people complain that the number of death facts has increased.

One year ago victim villagers appealed to the Court against the Oil Company. They demanded reimbursement for the damage. The judge discussed the suits of 5600 applicants and the court has been demanding to carry out medical expertise since that time. However, the suitors have not been examined yet. Gia Nikoladze, lawyer for the victim side said that the decision of the judge has not been sent to the Judicial Expertise Bureau and it is reason for the delay.

The victim population is less interested in reasons; they need support. Several days ago, they held peaceful demonstration and blamed the authority for cooperation with the Company. They claim that Georgian President personally protects the Canargo-Georgia.

Adults also took part in the demonstration; those children have their health worsened since the explosion and have corresponding medical documents to prove it. Eleven-year-old Tsismar Nadiradze, a resident of the village of Tskarostavi in the Sagarejo District is one of the victim children. Tsezar Nadiradze, grandmother of Tsismari, said in her conversation with the Human Rights Center that before September 2004 her granddaughter had been completely healthy child. “Tsismari got ill since the oil and gas exploded. Initially she had some allergy and her skin whitened. Finally she got bolded. At the moment she is taking chemical-therapy treatment at the Cancer Hospital.  We cannot afford her treatment any more. The family has sold out everything valuable. We do not have any plots either; however the medical treatment requires quite a lot of money. The Administrative Board did not assist us. The Oil Company also refused all kind of assistance,” said the grandmother of the child with terrible disease.

Unlike eleven-year-old Tsismari, the children from many neighbor villages are already bounded to the bed. Their parents cannot afford treatments for their children. They cannot use the policies granted by the Oil Company Canargo-Georgia. The Insurance Company “Aldagi” refuses to transfer the funds for treatment.

“The Insurance Company has refused to transfer money to me without any explanation. I petitioned to the Sagarejo District Administrative Board for financial support. They apportioned only 500 lari enough for medicines. Later they gave me another 100 lari but because of the oil explosion I have liver cirrhosis and I need a lot of money to take treatment. The conclusion of the lab located in the German city of Heidelberg proved that the disease was caused by the oil explosion. The conclusion underlines that I was poisoned with Benz. Despite all that nobody pays attention to me. I am a lonely woman with a little child. Having received the conclusion from Germany I got in touch with Garsevan Bukhnikashvili, current Governor of the Sagarejo District and asked him for advice.  He threatened me in reply: “You will not scare me, I have just visited the village and people do not complain there. Mind not to encourage them against me or Sanaia’s (famous Georgian journalist killed in obscure circumstances) death would seem nothing to people.” Short time after his threats I visited him in his quarter and asked him to assist me. I explained to him that I had to go on with treatment. He replied I had skin infection and not cirrhosis. But I rolled up my clothes and asked if I smelled badly. The governor rushed out of the room and called the policemen. I fainted as soon as policemen arrived. I had apparent death. They called first aid; the doctor did not take me to hospital to save Bukhnikashvili from imprisonment,” said Marika Chavchanidze-Sukhiashvili, a resident of the village of Ninotsminda.

The population claims that in 2004 Oil Company apportioned 845 thousand lari to compensate the damage but only 200 thousand lari out of it was spent on the purpose. Victim families received small reimbursement from that money to compensate the lost harvest. The villagers said that most part of the compensation was appropriated by local high ranking officials among them former MP Gia Natsvlishvili. The latter comes from Sagarejo District and now he is President’s Representative to Kakheti Region.

Garsevan Bukhnikashvili considers the victim villagers’ complaints groundless and categorically denies accusations against him.

-Why are you speaking impolitely to me?-asked the governor.

-Is it impoliteness to ask you to make comments on population’s accusations against local high ranking officials?

-Of course you are impolite; you are insulting the local authority. If we lived in a normal country you would have been arrested for that. These journalists have long tongues and try to blame officials for many groundless things. Who are you? Who do you work for? I do not know what you will write…Are you going to live in this way? The people have not invited me to the place and that’s why I did not travel there. However, I do not care about one or two provocateurs’ accusations. Their complaints are groundless. There is no document to prove the connection between their diseases and oil explosion,” said Bukhnikashvili and he got so irritated that started to hit fists on the table.

Gia Natsvlishvili refused to make comments on accusations over the phone.

Neither representatives of the Oil Company Canargo-Georgia tried to make any comments on the situation. “Most part of the district population appreciates our work; thus we do not want to waste time on stupid accusations.”

Members of the Conservative Party promised to support the demonstrators. MPs Kakha Kukava and Zviad Dzidziguri promised the villagers to discuss their problem at the parliament.

Unless experts from the Judicial Expertise Bureau carry out examination on diseased people and unbiased conclusions are prepared, the population threatens to hold protest demonstrations in front of the Parliament.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

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