Tbilisi City Hall has drafted a bill and sent it to parliament earlier today which makes several construction violations a criminal offence, which are currently only considered administrative violations.
We were forced to take the step to address the problems,” Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said.
The violations which might become a criminal offence include violations in height parameters, illegal construction works, ignoring an official demand to suspend construction and several others.
Such amendments are very necessary and are in the interests of each resident of the city, as they concern their safety,” Kaladze said.
Kaladze also stated that living in residential buildings which have been finished but have not received official go ahead to be settled will be banned.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze expressed hope that parliament will approve the bill. Photo: Tbilisi City Hall press office.
In 2009 a decree was annulled which banned living in such buildings. The possible reason was to further support developers. However, we believe that the annulment of the decree was incorrect and it will be restored,” Kaladze said, adding that official permits are issued by state agencies when they carry out mandatory checks whether the building meets all necessary standards.
Kaladze stated that there are up to 600 residential buildings in Tbilisi for now which are finished and in which people live, but they have no official permit, which also creates problems for their owners.
Such buildings are not included in the database of the state registry office and those who wish to take mortgage loans are unable to do this,” Kaladze said.
He stated that those buildings of that 600, which will not have major safety issues, will be officially registered as per of a one-time step by local authorities, to allow their residents use their properties as they wish.
However, all the ongoing and future residential buildings will have to present official permits to hand the flat keys to their consumers.