Saakashvili visits Tserovani

President Mikheil Saakashvili visited the Tserovani settlement on March 17 and met IDPs whose houses have been damaged by floods and heavy rain during the past few days. 2,100 families live in Tserovani but 20 houses there are now seriously damaged and the IDPs living in these have been practically displaced again by the non-stop rain.

The President met the IDPs in the settlement and listened to their problems. He also met the pre-existing residents of Tserovani village. “From the first minute police warned us about the problem and we began to take away everything we could. The police were very organised and they lead us out rapidly,” a resident said.

President Mikheil Saakashvili instructed Minister of Refugees and Accommodation Koba Subeliani to speed up repair and rehabilitation works and ensure these were high quality. He also promised that in 2-3 weeks the IDPs could return to their new homes, which will be better than the previous ones and maintained according to European standards. The President also charged to Koba Subeliani to buy new furniture. “These houses were constructed in the shortest period of time in the world, therefore many things were not properly considered. We must begin repair works as soon as possible and provide high quality work in order to prevent similar results occurring if there is another disaster,” Saakashvili said.

Mikheil Saakashvili also came to see the new facilities built over the last four months, a kindergarten, school and sports hall. He said that there will always be new facilities to see every time he visits the settlement and there will be new industrial facilities to see on his next visit. "No one believed that we could do it but you can see that Tserovani is build according to European standards and I am proud of it. This means we have become a developed country.” He also promised to build new roads and other things in the village.

"When Georgia was occupied these people were displaced. The Ossetians on the occupied territories are living in tents and the Ossetians here are living in houses, although the Russians have oil and a lot of money. This is an example of how a State without corruption is,” stated Mikheil Saakashvili.

The President stayed in Tserovani for an hour and promised to return in the near future to inspect the repair and rehabilitation works.