Police erect iron wall in Rioni Gorge amid protests against Namakhvani HPP
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Georgian law enforcers have erected an iron wall in the Rioni River Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati earlier today to hamper the movement of demonstrators to the village of Namakhvani.
Locals have been protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP by the Turkish company ENKA for 170 days on.
They have been based in tents in the village of Namakhvani until April 11, 2021.
Police removed the tents early on April 11 ‘because of possible threats of flooding.’ However, the demonstrators say that the government deliberately hampers a peaceful protest of people against the ‘cabal agreement between ENKA and the Georgian government which is against state interests and poses serious threats to the environment.’
People protesting the erection of the iron wall. Video: Publika.ge.
Police detained six protesters at the local office of ENKA near Kutaisi late yesterday for disobedience to police and blocking the road.
The demonstrators went there earlier yesterday, from the village of Gumati, to call for the company not to build the Namakhvani HPP in Georgia.
The demonstrators are now in the village of Gumati and demanding a free movement to the village of Namakhvani.
They say that it is their ‘constitutional right’ to use the route.
Public Defender’s Statement on Events Developed in Rioni Gorge https://t.co/RToSU0ufop
— Ombudsman of Georgia (@Ombudsman_Geo) April 13, 2021
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili instructed the country’s Economy Minister Natia Turnava yesterday to ‘communicate with people and arrive in the Rioni Gorge’.
Turnava stated the same day that the government ‘is ready to meet everyone interested in the project’ and to present the studies carried out by ENKA for the project.
However, a local leader of demonstrators Varlam Goletiani stated that ‘Turnava had earlier ran from a meeting scheduled with us and we need to meet decision makers.’
Goletiani said that he meant Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
The demonstrators have warned of a large-rally in Tbilisi if the government ‘refuses to act reasonably.’
What do we know about the controversial HPP?
Turkish engineering company ENKA (90 per cent of share) and Norway’s Clean Energy Group (10 per cent share) won the Georgian government tender back in 2019 to build, own and operate the Namakhvani project.
The cost of the project is 800 million USD (2.66 billion GEL) and it covers the construction of two HPPs along the Rioni River with a capacity of 433 MW and an annual output of 1,514 GWh.
The government of Georgia has transferred 600 acres of state-owned land to the Turkish construction company ENKA for a symbolic price.
The protesters and the local environmental NGOs say the project was signed behind closed doors and without the involvement of public and NGOs.
They argue that the government 'deliberately signed the anti-state project’ without the public involvement in discussions.
Demonstrators say that the police have no right to block the road which locals use to reach their homes. Photo: Mtisambebi.ge.
Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), Green Alternative, and EMC NGO say that ENKA has launched preparatory works on the site in February 2021 without providing up to 25 studies on the project’s impact on the environment.
They say that the ‘cabal agreement’ allows the investor to confiscate private property and utilize natural resources and demand unproportionally high compensation from the Georgian state for damages.
The government of Georgia says that the project ‘is of utmost importance for Georgia’s energy independence’, with 800 million USD investment and the potential to employ at least 1,800 Georgian citizens.
However, the opponents say that the project ‘has nothing to do with the country’s energy independence.’
They say that the contract between the Georgian government and ENKA only obligates the Turkish company to sell the electricity produced through the HPP locally for the first 15 years, while also annually increasing the fee by three per cent.
They say that the contract also allows ENKA to sell electricity to other countries if they offer a better price.
Locals who have been protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP for 168 days by Turkish company ENKA are now holding a rally in the village of Gumati, Imereti region after police dismantled their tents in the village of Namakhvani yesterday ‘due to possible threats of flooding.’
The Georgian Interior Ministry has announced that the tents of activists protesting the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the western Georgian region of Imereti will be removed after a man drowned in Rioni River yesterday.
Two protesters have been detained during a clash with police over the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the western Georgian region of Imereti.
The construction of the main facilities of the Namakhvani HPP in western Georgia, in particular the dam and the reservoir, will be suspended until major studies are re-verified and validated, while construction of the auxiliary infrastructure will continue, announces Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
Crowds protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge have moved from the village of Gumati to Kutaisi city earlier today, where they are holding a rally now.
Ten demonstrators have been detained near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Tbilisi for ‘disobedience to the lawful request of a police officer’.
Demonstrators who have been protesting the construction of the Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge of western Georgia for more than 170 days are ready for a ‘constructive dialogue’ with the Georgian government. The local organisers of the rally met government representatives in Kutaisi yesterday and put forward their demands. Ruling party MP Sozar Subari, who attended the meeting, said that one of the key reasons for the protests was a lack of communication.
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.
Police have dismantled iron barricades erected during protests against the Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati.