Anti-Namakhvani HPP Protesters rally in Kutaisi
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, April 15
Georgian law enforcers, who have been restricting movement in the Rioni Valley since April 3, erected an iron wall in the Rioni River Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati yesterday, to hamper the movement of demonstrators to the village of Namakhvani. Namakhvani HPP protesters had been standing in front of a police force in the past few days, asking them to allow them to move. Meanwhile, the long-standing protest against the construction of the Namakhvani HPP by Turkish company ENKA has reached the 170th consecutive day.
Human rights groups have called for a restraining order in the Rioni Gorge, citing security concerns. ISFED responded to the erection of an iron barrier by police and called on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ensure freedom of assembly and expression for protesters and to allow protesters to hold rallies at their designated locations.
Protesters tried to break through a police cordon near Gumati twice on April 12 and 13 but to no avail. They were about to walk towards Namakhvani, but the police did not open the cordon and warned that if they did not obey the call, they would use proportional force against them. After that, some of the protesters moved to the base of the company "Enka" in Gumati, where they tried to block the bypass roads to the gorge. Police detained 6 protesters at the local office of ENKA near Kutaisi for disobedience to police and blocking the road.
People demanded a free movement to the village of Namakhvani - they say it's their ‘constitutional right’ to use the route. According to the police, "for security reasons", the movement of citizens in certain directions in the Rioni gorge is temporarily restricted.
Protestors were based in tents in the village of Namakhvani until April 11, 2021, when the police removed the tents ‘due to the potential risk of flooding.’ “However, the demonstrators say that the government deliberately hampers a peaceful protest of people against the “cabal agreement between ENKA and the Georgian government, which is against state interests and poses serious threats to the environment.” Thus activists disagreed with the flooding alert reports, accusing the police of infringing their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and of attempts to squash their protest.
Later that day, ‘Rioni Gorge Guards’ and their supporters gathered in Kutaisi. The rally in Kutaisi was initiated after a convoy moving from Kutaisi to Gumati in support of the protesters was blocked by police. Rioni Gorge Guard activist Varlam Goletiani addressed the protesters at the rally and called on them to spend the night in Kutaisi - the central square of Kutaisi will be picketed throughout the night. According to Goletiani, if the government does not take into account the protests against the Namakhvani HPP, they would organize picketing throughout the country.
"They will be forced to comply with our just demands, and if that does not affect them, we will definitely move to the capital and start rallies there," he said.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili instructed the country’s Economy Minister Natia Turnava yesterday to ‘communicate with people and arrive in the Rioni Gorge’.
Turnava stated the same day that the government ‘is ready to meet everyone interested in the project’ and to present the studies carried out by ENKA for the project.
However, a local leader of demonstrators Goletiani stated that Turnava had ‘run away’ from a meeting scheduled with the protestors before. Goletiani said the activists demand a meeting with the ‘decision-makers’, referring to the PM.
On March 12, the Minister of Economy Natia Turnava and the Minister of Environment Protection Levan Davitashvili arrived on the spot to meet with the protesters but they left the meeting a few minutes later.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture issued a joint statement, welcoming the Patriarchate's statement on the need for a dialogue on the Namakhvani HPP project. The Patriarchate responded to the events related to Namakhvani on April 14, saying that the tensions that have accompanied the ongoing processes in the Rioni Valley in recent days are worrying. The Patriarchate believes that it is necessary to establish a dialogue in which stakeholders would be able to ask questions and hear answers.
"Dialogue has no alternative, and, in the civilized world, which Georgia is a part of, only in this way is it possible to resolve disputed issues. We hope that the organizers of the protests, after the call of the Georgian Patriarchate, will agree to dialogue. Together we will make a decision that will be in the interests of all of the society and contribute to the development of our country," the ministry said in a statement. According to them, further escalation of the situation and the categorical tone of the demands of the protesters leaves no room for dialogue and is unacceptable.
Namakhvani Cascade project envisages the construction of two independent HPPs in Rioni Valley: Kvemo Namakhvani HPP (333 mV) and Zemo Namakhvani (100 mV). Annual output of the cascade - 1,500.00 GWh (12% of annual consumption).
Opponents of the Namakhvani HPP are demanding that the government rescind the contract with the Turkish company Enka, announce a 3-5 year moratorium on the construction of the HPP, and determine the country's energy policy with the public’s active involvement.
