The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Mrs. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili paid a field visit to village Sobisi, Gori Municipality, to observe the situation on the ground.
“We have already activated the hotline and we plan to use it in future. I have personally communicated with the EU Monitoring Mission. We have discussed the current situation – the people who sowed and gave tremendous efforts, should be able to at least gain their crops.
Regrettably, this is not the first incident. We have a deplorable situation since 2008; many people are disallowed from access to their land-plots, terrains and orchards, which creates further socio-economic challenges. However, the fact that this is not a single episode, does not reduce the weight of the challenge – this explains my visit, my interaction with the locals.
The major response from Georgia to the challenge is the development and protection of the region, the villages that are located in the vicinity of the occupation line, that is all prioritized. We have taken a lot of measures, no less than to partially alleviate the heavy burden for these people. We plan to highlight the development and empowerment of the regions as a priority not only for easing their lives, but creating alternative economic opportunities for them,” – Mrs. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili declared.
The State Minister also spoke to the owner of the cornfield Shalva Chilindrishvili.
According to Mrs. Tsikhelashvili, the topic will be one of the central subjects of discussion at the upcoming IPRM meeting on 31st August.
The occupying power started to harvest the cornfield of Shalva Chilindrishvili, native of village Sobisi, Gori Municipality, today. However, the process has stopped by now.