ANALYSIS: “ROAD CONSTRUCTION SHOULD NOT BE A POLITICAL GESTURE”

The Messenger, Georgia
April 25 2006

As reported in Svobodnaya Gruzia, political analyst Ramaz Klimiashvili
thinks that the construction of new roads in the Samtskhe-Javakheti
region should simply represent a creation of new infrastructure instead
of the “carrying out of state policy in this region.” According to him,
the construction of roads should not be seen as a political gesture.

Klimiashvili stated that the “Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti
region has been on the verge of starvation and has been completely
neglected by the Georgian government.” He thinks that because of such
a state of affairs, these Georgian Armenians have been forced to look
to Yerevan for support.

“The sad state of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region has raised a number
of problematic issues. It seems that the Georgian authorities have
forgotten that it is necessary to take care of these people and to
show them that they are valued as Georgian citizens,” the article
quotes the political analyst as saying.