On 28 October 2014, Prime Minster of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, attended the opening of a public centre in Duisi. The Prime Minster talked about the work being carried out in the Pankisi Gorge. According to Mr Gharibashvili, important infrastructural projects have been implemented in the region. Specifically, these include the rehabilitation work of a 5.2-km stretch of the Duisi-Omalo connecting road which cost GEL 810,000 as well as GEL 680,000 worth of rehabilitation work on the inner roads of the village of Sakobiano. In addition, the first stage of the Dumastur-Jokolo connecting road bridge on the River Alazani has been finished, Duisi’s Kindergarten No. 2 has been renovated and an artificial-cover mini-stadium has been opened in Sakobiano whilst ambulatories have started functioning in Duisi, Sakobiano-Jokolo and Omalo.

took interest in the Prime Minister’s statement and verified its accuracy.

According to the information received from the Akhmeta Municipality, several infrastructural projects were implemented in the Pankisi Gorge in 2013 and 2014. These include: paving and rehabilitating a total of 6.31 km of roads since 1 January 2014, rehabilitating the 5.2-km stretch of the Duisi-Omalo connecting road at a total cost of GEL 810,000 and rehabilitating a 1.11-km stretch of Aghmashenebeli Street in Akhmeta which was started on 14 May 2014 and is expected to be finished by 1 December 2014 with a total project value of GEL 358,369. Further, rehabilitation work on the inner roads of the village of Sakobiano started on 31 July 2013 and finished on 23 December of the same year. GEL 651,477 was allocated and spent for this project. The construction of a 130-m road bridge on the River Alazani, connecting Dumastur to Jokolo, started on 22 May 2014 with an overall project cost of GEL 169,850. The construction work was finished on 8 September 2014. According to the information received from the Akhmeta Municipality, the rehabilitation of an additional 11 kindergartens have been planned in the Akhmeta region apart from Duisi’s Kindergarten No. 2 with a total of GEL 99,339 being spent on these projects.

As for the construction of the artificial-cover mini-stadium in Sakobiano, this project was implemented on the initiative of local residents and funded by the Village Support Programme. The ambulatories did indeed start functioning in the villages listed by the Prime Minster in terms of a joint programme of the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Georgia.

Whilst verifying the accuracy of the Prime Minister’s statement we found that a total of 6.31 km of road has been paved and rehabilitated in the Akhmeta Municipality since 1 January 2014. The overall cost of the projects amounted to GEL 116,836. The inner roads in the village of Sakobiano were also rehabilitated. The Prime Minister’s statement is also accurate when talking about the Dumastur-Jokolo connecting bridge, rehabilitated kindergartens and ambulatories as well.