Georgian president speaks at launch of leisure centre construction project

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
23 Mar 06

President Mikheil Saakashvili on 23 March delivered an upbeat speech
at a ceremony launching the construction of a large leisure centre on
Ajaria’s border with the rest of Georgia. He said that Georgia had
come a long way since two years ago when he was denied entry to Ajaria
by armed supporters of the then Ajarian leader, Aslan Abashidze.
Saakashvili said that “unprecedented” infrastructure improvement
projects under way in Georgia would lead to more tourists visiting the
country and higher living standards. The following is the text of a
report by Georgian Imedi TV on 23 March:

[Presenter] The president is on the border between Ajaria and Guria to
attend a ceremony to mark the start of work on the construction of the
largest leisure centre in Georgia, Tsitsinatela. The complex will
cover 14 hectares and the first stage of construction will be
completed by 1 August. The complex will be finally completed by the
next summer season.

[Saakashvili, live broadcast] Welcome, everybody. I would like to
welcome the heads of the local government, the chairman of the Supreme
Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria and members of the
government.

Today is an important day for us. Two years ago in March, on this
spot, during the night, or more precisely early in the morning, we
tried to enter Ajaria over the Choloki bridge. We were blocked about
where that building is being built by several hundred people armed to
the teeth. The Choloki bridge had been heavily mined. Just a few days
ago they found more explosives left by [then Ajarian leader] Aslan
Abashidze and his foreign advisers under another bridge nearby. It is
good that they did not explode. Two years ago we could not have
imagined how this place would begin to change.

I would like to tell you that we do not just mean the construction of
this park. We are starting major, unprecedented construction projects
on a very ti ght timescale along the Black Sea coast in Ajaria and now
in Guria.

In these coming days and weeks the construction of up to 30 new,
European-standard tourist hotels will begin in Ajaria. Several will be
built in Guria.

Last year saw unprecedented road construction work. We built the first
new tunnel for decades. We also intend to continue building roads this
year. The Ozurgeti-Kobuleti road will be rebuilt to European standards
this year. That is very important for the Guria region. The Meria
road and the Sarpi-Batumi road will be repaired to modern
standards. We will continue building a new tunnel and it should be
finished by the end of the year.

We will complete roads in Ajaria’s highland region and we are working
on roads linking villages in Guria. We are reinforcing coastal
defences in Guria and Ajaria.

This year was the first for many years in which most of Guria and
Ajaria did not have electricity problems. This, of course, did not
fall from the sky. This was the result of very hard work.

You know that throughout Georgia educational institutions are being
built. Last year several new schools were built in Ajaria and
Guria. However, I want everything new that we build – schools, roads
and everything else – to be of a completely different standard and
quality. I do not want this to be a repeat of Soviet standards.

A short time ago we even missed the quality of what was built in the
Soviet Union. Everything new that it is to be built or renovated – and
this year 17 new schools will be built in Ajaria and several built or
renovated in Guria – should be done to European standards. Every new
building should be on a European level. We are in the 21st century and
we are a European country. We should have buildings of which we are
proud, not embarrassed when we send our children there. We will do
that together. [applause]

We started an experiment last year. The Ajarian government provided
all schoolchildren in Batumi with school uniforms. This year, free
school uniforms will be provided to all schoolchildren, from year one
to six, throughout Ajaria. I would like to say that we support this
programme. [Tbilisi mayor] Gigi Ugulava is doing the same in
Tbilisi. We also hope to provide free beautiful school uniforms to
children in the district centres of Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti and
Chokhatauri. Children should be happy to wear them. These uniforms
should be different from the old-fashioned uniforms we remember from
our childhoods. We should have good-quality modern uniforms, just as
in Europe and other normal countries. We will do this together.

Several good outpatient clinics are being built here. It is very
important for us to build a decent, modern health care system
everybody can afford to use. No-one should be denied medical treatment
because of money problems. I would also like to tell you that on 6
May we will switch on [street lights on] the entire highway. I want
the whole of Georgia to know that this year Ajaria and Georgia’s Black
Sea coast will be beautiful as never before. The entire highway, from
Choloki to Batumi and Sarpi, will have newly installed lights. There
will be no more dark roads, no more dangerous bends, no more dangerous
potholes. Come and have a good time here, spend money here, because
this money will benefit local people.

Numerous new cafes and catering facilities are being built this
year. You know that last year a new, modern park opened in Borjomi,
which was the trailblazer. We are continuing to make improvements to
the park. By the way, my friend here, who is from Kobuleti, has
visited the Borjomi park several times together with his classmates, I
believe.

Today, here at the Choloki [river], we are opening the construction of
a park that will be one of the most modern parks in the former Soviet
Union. This involves huge investment. This will not just be an
entertainment and recreation site. This park will create job
opportunities. Like a magnet, it will attract more facilities around
it. Like a magnet, it will attract tourists. Tens of thousands of
tourists from Armenia and other countries have already been here [in
Ajaria]. By the end of this year, the construction of a new
European-style airport will be completed in Batumi. It will meet all
modern European standards. There will be a completely new runway that
any type of aircraft can use. It will be even better than the Tbilisi
airport runway. This is being done to attract more tourists.

What does more tourists mean? It means that people in Natanebi
[village in the Guria province] will be able to sell their produce. I
have many friends in this village. It is a great village with great
traditions of farming. People here will have more income, which will
enable them to give their children a better education. Education is
the main thing for us here. We must understand that the sale of our
agricultural produce and the development of tourism is the future of
Georgia.

For the first time in the post-Soviet period, several large food
processing enterprises are opening in Ajaria this summer. Tens of
millions of dollars’ worth of investment is being made for the benefit
of people in Guria and Ajaria. Agricultural produce from the rest of
Georgia will also be processed here.

This means jobs and new opportunities for our families living here.

I cannot list everything that is being done. When one or two
enterprises were being built, it was always easy to attend their
opening. Aslan Abashidze opened just one one-and-a-half storey
kindergarten which has never seen any children. Some people who are
currently criticizing us in Tbilisi visited it 40 times and heaped
praise on Aslan Abashidze a hundred times for building that one-storey
shack.

In Ajaria’s highland region alone we are building 15 completely new
schools this year. In Kobuleti, as I promised, I will build one of the
most beautiful and modern schools in the region. It will be a school
that meets European standards. We will work as quickly as possible
and, hopefully, children will be able to use it by the end of the
year. A similar European-standard school is being built in
Khelvachauri. More such schools are being built in Guria. Naturally,
I will not be able to attend the opening of each of these schools,
although I would really like to.

It must be said though that, of course, progress is a gradual
process. We need to work harder, be more patient and spill more sweat
in order finally to help our country emerge from the terrible state it
found itself in.

There was a swamp here and this still is a swamp. On 1 July, or let’s
hope in the middle of July at the latest, we will open a park here we
will not be ashamed of. We will not be embarrassed to bring the
president of America here or especially tourists from neighbouring
countries. They will go back and tell everyone how much the Georgians
have improved. Who thought this would happen? [applause]

We will be proud of that because I am proud of everything that is
being done in Georgia because Georgia is a great country and great
people live here. It is a better country than others, better than most
other countries in the world in all respects. We must really be very
untalented not to take advantage of that, but we are very talented, so
we will take full advantage. So, let’s start construction work and in
three months – [addresses head of the Ajarian government Levan
Varshalomidze and Guria governor Aleko Tsintsadze]

Varshalomidze and governor, make sure you don’t make me angry. May,
June, July – and then I will come here for a walk together with the
population of Georgia. [laughter, applause]