Snakes Attack the IDPs Settled in Shida Kartli Region

Tea Tedliashvili, Gori

The IDPs have faced new problems after the weather turned hot. Their settlements are full of snakes and … The IDPs have a new problem in addition to the fact that they are fed only macaroni and beans. The IDPs sleep in fear because almost every daya snake wraps round at least one child.

Several similar incidents have happened in Tserovani settlement close to Tbilisi. It happened in the villages of Shavshvebi, Skra and other places of settlement close to Gori. Governmental officials claim they do not have information about snakes and  TV companies have not become interested in this fact.

 The first reason for snakes attacks might be the swampy ground of the settlements. The area was only covered and was then prepared for IDPs. However, swampy places need special operations to be carried out before starting settlements there to avoid snakes appearing there.

“Almost every day at least one person is attacked by a snake. Several days ago it was my child who was attachet, but fortunately the snake did not bite him. Nobody cares about this problem. The snakes live in our houses--I am afraid of sleeping because a snake might bite me,” said Nana Kakhniashvili, an IDP from the village of Kurta who was settled in Tserovani.

“The snakes are coming out directly from the floor. It is impossible to live there. The floor makes noise when we are walking on it. There are so many snakes there that we cannot defeat them yet. Sometimes they fall down from the roof sometimes they come up from the floor. The reason is that the worst places were selected for our settlement. They claim 27 000 GEL was spent on the construction of each cottage, but that is impossible. I could place all the staff they gave us as aid in one room of my house in the village,” said Gocha Kakhniashvili, IDP living in the settlement of Skra, Gori district.

The IDPs claim that the government knows very well about the problem with snakes., but that the government is  not going to take any measures to resolve the problem. Iamze Jioev,  an IDP living in Tserovani, said that it was miracle how her child escaped being  bitten by a snake. “A four-year child barely survived in our settlement. The child had snakes round his legs. The people helped him in time and the snake did not bite him,” said Iamze Jioev.

Shida Kartli, Regional Administration, stated that the Regional Administration already has  informed the Ministry of Agriculture about the problem. They cannot resolve the problem.

The Regional Administration does not have any information about when the ministry will start to resolve the problem. Before we got in touch with them, the administration did not have information about the snakes that “settled” in Skra.

In addition to all this, people who receive injections for bites of animal or a snake must pay for the injections.