Parliament Speaker rejects claims of delay in rescue helicopters’ arrival in landslide zone

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday rejected claims of delays in arrival of rescue helicopters at the scene of last week’s landslide in the western resort of Shovi that killed 19 people.

Papuashvili said the first rotary wing rescue aircraft had arrived at the scene “in just three hours”, and explained the flight had taken an hour, with additional time for equipment inspection and helicopter preparation.

The Parliament official also commented on efficiency of efforts over the recent years to install new hydrometeorological stations across the country and ensure adequate information on environmental conditions, in the wake of the disaster.

He noted 200 hydrometeorological stations had been installed since 2018, with three radars operating across the country for the purpose.

I understand there was a desire to have all this in two to three years, but it takes time, since these are technically difficult issues. In addition, it is important not to spontaneously install [monitoring systems] in different places, but to install according to needs and determine priorities”, Papuashvili said.

Answering a question on the quality of risk assessment before the landslide, Papuashvili said conclusions by geologists and other professionals - “including independent experts” - had agreed that a hydrological station installed on the Chanchakhi river, adjacent to the resort, had “not recorded any changes” in the water until the moment the landslide hit the area.

He also rejected claims about accumulation of a body of water in the affected area over two days before the landslide an “absolute lie”, and called it a “sabotage and stabbing the country in the back”.