Residents of Shukruti village continue to protest in Tbilisi.
Today they organized a march from Rustaveli Avenue and moved to the building of the Public Broadcaster of Georgia.
A number of them have been in Tbilisi since September 11.
The participants of the rally demand compensation for the damage caused to the village of Shukruti as a result of the activities of mining company Georgian Manganese, and the involvement of the central government in this process.
The people of Shukruti say that, as a result of the works carried out by Georgian Manganese, their houses were destroyed, the soil, yards and plots were damaged, and life in the village became unbearable.
Some participants started a hunger strike as a sign of protest, while four of them sewed their mouths shut on September 1.
The protest has been going on for six months in Shukruti. The locals say that Georgian Manganese extracts ore from under the soil of the village, which resulted in the collapse of their houses and barrenness of plants and drying up of wells.
The miners participating in the protest and part of the local population demand from the company “Georgian Manganese” to fulfill the agreement reached as a result of the 2019-2021 protest. In 2020, based on the memorandum signed with the residents of Shukruti village, the company had to pay from 700,000 GEL to 1,000,000 GEL per year. Georgian Manganese claims that it has already given three times more compensation. However, locals note that only 5% of the population received compensation.
Image source: Netgazeti
Related story: Why doesn’t the gov’t hear the voices of Shukruti? 12th day of protest in Tbilisi
