On 5 February 2014, at the plenary session of the Georgian Parliament, the Adigeni Municipality Majoritarian MP, Zurab Chilingarashvili, declared that the process of gasification is being suspended. In addition, whatever has been accomplished is being ruined due to negligence. Gas meters are not being installed and if they are, then it is at a very slow pace. Chilingarashvili admitted that the problem of tree cutting is still unresolved. The population goes to the summer pastures which means that they will not be able to cut firewood legally. Therefore, this problem will emerge again in spring.
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of the abovementioned statement and decided to investigate the fact.
Zurab Chilingarashvili reported to our correspondent that he is still speaking about the same old problem that was investigated by FactChecksome time ago. According to his statement, [in respect to tree cutting]: “The legislation has been modified, however, the following needs to be explained: it is true that the population received cards for firewood; they used these cards in August and September of the last year. The cards will be issued this year as well, most probably in the summer. Nevertheless, there is one problem. The Adigeni population moves to the mountains in the summer and stays there during the period of pasturing. This means that they will not be able to use the abovementioned cards in summer.”
As for installing the gas meters and the process of gasification, according to Chilingarashvili, he is from the Adigeni Municipality himself and, thus, together with his voters, the inhabitants of Ude and Arli, his family also suffers from the aforementioned problem.
In order to verify the statement of Zurab Chilingarashvili, we contacted the acting Governor of the Adigeni Municipality, Arsen Balakhishvili. According to his information, the process of gasification was suspended in October 2012 and has not been renewed since then. FactCheck got in touch with the Ministry of Energy of Georgia to verify the abovementioned information. According to the representative of the Ministry of Energy, the suspension of the process is caused by legal procedures. Currently, there is no official plan for gasification; nevertheless, the process will continue in 2014. It is of note that FactCheckalso paid attention to the gasification of the Adigeni Municipality in the past. Based on our research findings, nothing has changed in the Adigeni Municipality in this respect since then.
Regarding the process of installing gas meters in Adigeni, the Governor of the Municipality stated that in 2013 the installation plan comprised the following villages: Patara Mada, Didi Mada, Kakhareti, Amkhevi, Tsre and Arzni. In Patara Mada, Kakhareti and Amkhevi, the process has been finalised. It was not possible to start the process in the other villages in 2013 with the current process in a state of suspension.
As for the second part of Chilingarashvili’s statement (concerning the problems of cutting firewood due to the population’s move to the mountainous regions in summer), we contacted the Head of the Forestry Department of the Adigeni Municipality, Soso Rekhviashvili, to verify the data. According to Rekhviashvili, the inhabitants moving to the mountains in the summer never encountered problems of cutting firewood; furthermore, no one has ever approached him with this problem. He also added that according to the law everyone has equal rights and he cannot understand why the population leaving for the mountains in the summer may face problems in terms of getting firewood.
Conclusion After verifying Zurab Chilingarashvili’s statement, FactCheck
found out that the process of gasification has indeed been suspended in the Adigeni Municipality since October 2012. Herewith, it should be mentioned that the MP also raised this issue at the plenary session of the Parliament on 27 November 2013; however, the problem still remains unresolved.
The accuracy of Chilingarashvili’s words in respect to installing the gas meters is also proven. The acting Governor of the Adigeni Municipality also speaks of the same problem with FactCheck.The process of installing the gas meters is currently in a state of suspension.
As for Zurab Chilingarashvili’s comment about the problem of cutting trees for firewood, it is not entirely accurate since everyone has equal rights in terms of getting firewood in accordance with the law. The Head of the Forestry Department of the Adigeni Municipality declares that no one has ever approached him with this problem, as tree cutting for firewood is allowed in the Adigeni Municipality cutting area during the whole year. Therefore, the population leaving for the mountains in summer can use the cards provided by the state during any other period of the year. The statement of the MP also confirms that the problem is not prompted by the discriminatory legislation.
Based upon the abovementioned facts we can conclude that the statement of the Adigeni Municipality Majoritarian MP: “Gasification is not in progress. Gas meters are not being installed and if they are, then it is at a very slow pace. In spring, the problem of the tree cutting will emerge again for the Adigeni Municipality population. These people will be going to the summer pastures which means that they will not be able to cut firewood legally,” is MOSTLY TRUE.
