Prime Minister meets with Samegrelo population
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Thursday, April 3
Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, visited the Samegrelo region on April 2 as part of his regional tour around the country.
Gharibashvili began his speech with expressing his regards toward Samegrelo and Abkhazia and stated that Abkhazia should return to Georgia by its own desire. “Abkhazia should voluntarily return to Georgia, most importantly, the Abkhazians should be brought by the reliable, real and desired future with us. Only the attractive prospect of economic, social and cultural development can restore the broken connections,” the Prime Minister stated.
Gharibashvili spoke about future plans. He said the Georgian government plans to construct a special comfortable dormitory for students, residents and trainees and what is particularly important, for the family members of those patients who come from Abkhazia.
The Prime Minister spoke about the regional hospital stressing that approximately 600 people will be employed in the clinic, including medical, technical and support staff. According to him the clinic will have 200 beds and will also serve as an educational center for those willing to gain medical knowledge. He further added that “the hospital would serve Abkhazian patients as well and there would be a special campus to house Abkhazian families when they had a family member being treated at the hospital.”
Gharibashvili touched agricultural issues, too. “We have a completely different approach to agriculture. Our government thinks that this is the direction which indisputably needs care,” Gharibashvili said, adding that “1186 projects have been implemented within the Rural Support Program in the region, with the total cost of more than 7 million GEL. 97,569 beneficiaries have received the Rural-Agricultural Card within the project, supporting spring works.”
At the end of his special address, the Prime Minister spoke about Georgia’s Western orientation. “We will sign the most important document - the association agreement with EU - in several months. This is one more step closer to Europe, to the civilized world,” Gharibashvili said explaining that by signing the association agreement, the Georgian population will feel the benefits that will be brought by being closer to Europe - opportunities for economic cooperation will be opened and local businesses will be able to import Georgian products to Europe.
“In addition, our citizens will be able to travel visa free to Europe, which is very important for our people. Our European friends and the United States of America are supporting us on our way to be closer to the EU. I assure you, nothing can stand against the signing process,” Gharibashvili said.
The Prime Minister also focused on the upcoming local self-government elections in Georgia. He said little time is left before June 15 but he is “deeply convinced that people will give a vote of confidence” to his political team.
“We will be able to implement the changes that make democratic development irreversible; changes, which place our homeland among the leading, progressive states. It is not easy, though we will achieve it together. We need the people's support for this, we need your support and we believe that we will have this support,” Gharibashvili stated.
In the frames of his regional tour around the country, the Prime Minister paid a visit to other Western regions on Thursday.
