Will gov’t fulfill demands of protesters against construction of Namakhvani HPP? Deadline expiring today

The government of Georgia will announce today whether it will meet some of the demands of locals protesting the construction of the Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge of western Georgia. 

The local organisers of the rally met government representatives in western Georgian city of Kutaisi on April 15 and put forward their demands. 

• Crowds protesting Namakhvani HPP ready for dialogue, raise demands

The demands included:

• The removal of the iron wall in the village of Gumati which prevents the demonstrators’ movement to the village of Namakhvani
• The suspension of preparatory works for the construction of the HPP by the Turkish company ENKA
• Allowing the demonstrators to open tents for peaceful protests in the village of Namakhvani again

Local demonstrators say that a full-fledged dialogue with the authorities will begin only after these three demands are met and if the government does not fulfill the conditions, large rallies will be held not only in Rioni gorge and Kutaisi, but all over Georgia. 

• What do we know about the controversial HPP? 

Locals have been protesting for almost five months now against the planned construction of a 433-megawatt Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge.