The Messenger, Georgia
May 5 2005

TBILISI:
Saakashvili promises aid to Javakheti

President says no bases will replace the Russian base in Akhalkalaki
once it is withdrawn
By M. Alhazashvili

Russian soldiers shopping in a Akhalkalaki market in March 2005;
the Tbilisi government has promised new economic development after
the base is withdrawn

In meetings with Armenian legislators over the last week, President
Mikheil Saakashvili promised that Tbilisi will pay broad attention to
the economic needs of the Javakheti region and its district center,
Akhalkalaki, an area whose population is predominantly ethnic Armenian.

The need for economic development in Javakheti has long been neglected
and the current government has made this region a priority in its
request for aid from the U.S. Millennium Development program to
rebuild roads connecting Tbilisi and Akhalkalaki, a project for which
the government seeks around USD 120 million.

However during his meeting with Artur Baghdasarian, the speaker of the
National Assembly of Armenia, President Saakashvili stated there are
broader economic plans for the region. “We are not only planning to
fix the Tbilisi-Akhaltsikhe-Akhalkalaki road; we are going to restore
the internal roads of Akhalkalaki as well,” he said, as quoted by
Akhali Taoba.

According to the president, a plan has also been developed for the
social rehabilitation of local residents following the withdrawal of
the Russian military bases from Akhalkalaki.

“For those people who would like to serve in the Georgian armed forces
we will offer them the opportunity to work in military units located
nearby, as after the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from
Akhalkalaki no other military bases will be deployed there in their
place. Furthermore, we will offer social rehabilitation in several
spheres to those who do not want to work in the army,” Akhali Taoba
cites the president as saying.

Economic dependence on the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki is
the main reason why residents have protested against its withdrawal.
But during protests over the last three months, local residents
have also called for greater attention from the government and the
opening of more local branches of government offices that provide
citizen services.

Parliament is also paying serious attention to the economic development
program of Javakheti. MP Kote Gabashvili, head of the parliamentary
committee for foreign relations, states that after the withdrawal
of the Russian military base, it is a priority of the government
to find alternative jobs for local residents. The resolution that
Parliament adopted in February also obligates the government to find
alternative jobs.

According to MP Nika Rurua, chair of the parliamentary defense and
security committee, the program being designed for local residents
will involve the creation of alternative jobs. The newspaper Akhali
Taoba cites him as saying they will be given new jobs with nearly the
same salary that they were receiving from the Russian military base.

Agriculture is the other major economic activity in the region and
Kote Gabashvili reports that there are plans to promote the region’s
popular potato harvest. Already a key crop in the region, the potato
will be especially important this year as crops in Racha, another
major potato producer, have been heavily damaged in recent flooding.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress