The Government Administration of Georgia has released a statement regarding today's incident in the Pankisi Gorge where clashes erupted between local residents and police over the construction of a hydropower plant.

The statement presents brief information about the upcoming project, noting that the total amount of investment allocated for it amounts to $40 million and that it is a project that is to greatly contribute to the development of the local economy.

“Construction of the hydropower plant does not include damming water and building up main buildings, will not be carried out on the private lands, and is to have minimal impact on the local ecology,” reads the statement.

The Government Administration also focuses on the fact that the company in charge of launching the hydropower plant has taken on the responsibility to help the local residents of Pankisi Gorge and will carry out a number of projects in this respect. As a result, the residents of the Gorge will benefit from the renovated infrastructure and the multiplicity of new workplaces.

Through the statement, the Government Administration also calls upon the population of Pankisi not to engage in any kind of violence or destructive actions and expresses readiness to negotiate with them to reach a consensus.

Giorgi Gakharia, Vice Premier, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia; Maia Tskitishvili, Vice Premier, Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia; along with other government officials, traveled to Pankisi to observe the current situation on site and hold a dialogue with locals.

By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya

Image source: rferl.org

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