Georgian Manganese, protesters in Shukruti village reach agreement over home damage compensation
Ten individuals had sewn their mouths shut, including three women, in protest of Shukruti+, a contractor of Georgian Manganese. Protestors claimed more than 200 families’ homes had sustained damage and demanded compensation. Photo: Tata Kachkachishvili/RFERL.
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Georgian Manganese and locals in the village of Shukruti in western Georgia have reached an agreement on compensation for damage inflicted on their homes due to mining activity in the area.
Georgian Manganese exports ferroalloys and manganese ore from mines near the village.
Shukruti residents had been protesting for more than 100 days over the company’s mining practices, which they said were harmful and caused landslides, inflicted damage on local roads and their homes.
Ten individuals had sewn their mouths shut, including three women, in protest of Shukruti+, a contractor of Georgian Manganese. Protestors claimed more than 200 families’ homes had sustained damage and demanded compensation.
In a statement published this morning Georgian Manganese announced that the company will compensate the damage under these two options:
- Damage will be assessed according to the existing memorandum signed between the village and the company; or
- Following the request of the protesters, the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau will assess the damage, which should then be compensated by the company
Locals held similar demonstrations with the same demands in September 2019 as well, and blocked the road leading to Georgian Manganese and stopped the operations of the manganese mines.
Following the September protests, a commission was set up with Georgian Manganese, the Chiatura mayor and the village governor to investigate the damage and then start the process of compensation for claimed losses, but locals said the commission's work had not yielded any real results.
Locals of the Georgian village of Shukruti in the western Georgian region of Imereti, who demand Georgian Manganese compensate them for the damages, have gathered in front of the United States Embassy in Tbilisi to ‘make their voices heard’.
Three women from the Georgian village of Shukruti, near Chiatura in the western Georgian region of Imereti, have sewn their mouths up and joined in a hunger strike to protest the activities of Georgian Manganese, a producer and exporter of ferroalloys and manganese ore.
Three individuals living in the village of Shukruti in Chiatura in western Georgian region of Imereti, have sewed their mouths shut to protest the activities of Georgian Manganese, a producer and exporter of ferroalloys and manganese ore.
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A court in Georgia's Black Sea province of Adjara has fined four citizens 2,000 GEL ($630/€530) after their arrest by police at a protest that blocked a major railway on Saturday.
Residents of the village of Shkmeri in Oni municipality of Georgia have held a rally earlier today in protest of the issuance of licenses for manganese mining. The protesters claim that manganese mining, which involves digging up the territory, will pollute the air and damage the houses in Shkhmeri.