Georgia, Tbilisi, Oct.5 / Trend, N. Kirtskhalia /
Georgian Energy and Natural Resources Ministry still leaves unanswered 26 environmental and public organizations' request for clarification on possible environmental and social problems associated with the construction of the Namakhvani HPP's cascade in Western Georgia.
The request for clarification says that the ministry's conclusions on the cascade's impact on the environment and social sphere, which was submitted for public discussions, does not provide sufficient or compelling information about the real impact of Namakhvani HPP on the situation of the local population of Tsageri, Tkibuli and Tskhaltubo and environment, and the conclusions in the report are biased not justified because are not supported by appropriate research.
NGOs called on the Energy Ministry to make public the latest version of the project documents on Namakhvani HPP and the local population's resettlement plan one and a half months ago, but to no avail. The village's residents - more than 1,000 people who live in the zone of future flooding still are unaware where they will be resettled.
Memorandum on the construction of the Namakhvani HPP's cascade was signed in 2009 with Korean and Turkish companies. However, later the South Korean company "Engineering Construction" backed out of the construction, and only the Turkish "Nurol" remained, which is owned by ethnic Georgian Nurettin Carmikli. The company already has implemented two major projects in Georgia - building the "Sheraton" hotel in Batumi and new buildings of the Interior Ministry in Tbilisi.