Culture Ministry rejects TV report alleging historical monument destruction in Borjomi fire
In its statement, the Ministry also called on the media to refrain from spreading “false and unverified information” and said these actions only served to “mislead the public”, adding the state agencies have been taking “all appropriate measures” to minimise the damage of cultural heritage monuments and strategic objects by natural disasters. Photo: Georgian Culture Ministry.
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The Georgian Culture Ministry on Saturday rejected TV reports alleging that the historical monument of Kvirike Tsminda (Saint Kvirike) Church, located in the central-western Georgia's Borjomi municipality and its wall paintings, dating back to the 10th century, had been “completely” destroyed by the blaze erupted on August 19.
The Ministry made this statement in response to the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, which on Friday reported that the aforementioned monument had been destroyed by the fire.
The Ministry of Culture explained that with the assistance and efforts of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the monument was not damaged by the blaze and noted that the representative of the country’s National Agency for Protection of Cultural Heritage, who has been monitoring the situation at the site of the disaster, said the fire sources have not been present in the vicinity of the Church and only smoke has been noticeable “from time to time”.
In its statement, the Ministry also called on the media to refrain from spreading “false and unverified information” and said these actions only served to “mislead the public”, adding the state agencies have been taking “all appropriate measures” to minimise the damage of cultural heritage monuments and strategic objects by natural disasters.
The number of neutralised sources of fire in Georgia’s central-western Borjomi Municipality exceeds those still active on the eighth day after the eruption of the blaze, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Friday.
The Georgian Revenue Service on Thursday rejected as “misinformation” a story aired on Mtavari Arkhi channel and a statement made by Levan Khabeishvili, a member of the United National Movement opposition party, that alleged oil had been imported in the country in circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The main sources of fire in Georgia’s central-western Borjomi Municipality have been eliminated on the ninth day after the eruption of the blaze, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The aviation worked at a “very high” level and its results are visible, as the spread area of the forest fire in central-western Georgia’s Borjomi municipality, that has been raging since Friday, has decreased “relatively”, Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Interior Minister of Georgia told reporters on Wednesday.