In Georgia, residents of the village of Shoukrouti located near a manganese mine have been on hunger strike for almost a month. They say that the practices of the company that exploits the deposit are causing very serious damage to their homes, and that it has not paid them the compensation it promised them. The Tbilisi government is also accused of protecting the investor.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Tbilisi, Régis Genté
Since 2019, residents of Shoukrouti and a dozen other villages in the Caucasus foothills have complained about damage caused to their homes by the exploitation of nearby manganese mines.
These residents are increasing their pickets and other representations to the Georgian Manganese company and public authorities, to no avail. Hence the decision at the beginning of September by some to come and camp in front of the Parliament in Tbilisi. Eteri shows photos of her house on her phone: “ You see, my house is gutted from the chimney all the way down. Look at all those cracks. And there, look at the tapestry that is torn », exasperates the forty-year-old.
Only 5% of people affected by these activities received compensation
Desperate, a handful of men began a hunger strike a month ago. They also partially sewed their mouths shut. Before the Parliament of Georgiathey are lying on small mattresses, a blanket on their legs. Like Beka Neparidzé, who makes a living from subsistence farming in Shoukrouti: “ It’s been seven months since I could live in my house. We go on strike with extreme means of protest, we only swallow water. We want to show the whole country that we are right. This is what we are fighting for, we have no other interest. »
According to Beka, only 5% of people affected by the company’s activities have received compensation, which the producer of this grayish metal used in industry and agriculture denies.
This small strike alone represents the forces tearing the former Soviet republic of the Caucasus apart. This includes the emergence of civil society, the alliance of political and economic forces and a justice system that struggles to be independent. Not to mention the geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.
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