Mayor meets public for second time
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, August 20
Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania met with Tbilisi residents on Monday. Unlike the first meeting that took place last week, the recent meeting was arranged without any disputes. Those who had an opportunity to see the face-to-face meeting with the mayor stated that they were satisfied with the outcome.
After elected as a mayor, Narmania stated that he would meet Tbilisi residents and listen to their problems on Mondays. However, the first meeting was disorganized, as there were no procedural rules in place. This time, the mayor’s office implemented a procedure to make things move smoothly.
Narmania states that such meetings are important in order to better understand the problems people face.
“One can call us and tell us about the problem they have, or one can write a letter. On Mondays each of them will be notified of the meeting and instructed were and with whom to go,” Narmania said, adding that most of the problems voiced by people are related to social issues.
Narmania also touched on the situation in the Mayor’s Office. He said that some of the staff is unqualified. This problem will be addressed through knowledge exams. Narmania stated that new heads of departments were instructed to study the current situation in their departments and present plans concerning more-effective actions.
“On each Friday we will listen to service provider companies. We have already listened to the Georgian Water and Power. The City Park will have to answer our critical questions the following Friday,” Narmania said.
Concerning Rike Park, Narmania stated that the area should be the subject of further development.
“We will announce a project competition concerning the development of the park and its adjacent areas. We will select the best project and suggest it to investors. The process will be extremely transparent,” Narmania said.
Narmania stated that changing the city’s image or destroying its monuments would be carried out through consultations between responsible structures. The mayor also stated that his office has already launched work on moving Tbilisi Zoo to the Tbilisi Sea. Narmania also informed that the planting of trees would be pushed forward from this year. However, the project of planting a million trees in the capital will be intensified from the following year owing to storing more saplings.
