Georgian Young Greens Comment on the Clashes between Police and HPP Protestors

Georgian Young Greens is a political NGO based on the initiative of the youth. The members of this NGO have 5 core principles, to wit: equality, democracy, sustainable environment, anti-violence and anti-discrimination.  Georgian Young Greens are known to protest HPP construction alongside the local residents of Pankisi region.
On Sunday, April 21, clashes occurred between police and locals of Birkiani who protested the construction of the Khadori hydropower plant (HPP) in Pankisi region. During the clashes, 55 people were injured, including 17 civilians and 38 police officers.
Giorgi Ptskialadze, a student at Ilia State University managing Georgian Young Greens, commented on the clashes between police and HPP protestors in an interview with Georgia Today, saying that “the current situation in Pankisi is not new and it doesn’t only take place in Pankisi. The abovementioned is a just a part of one big system. What happened yesterday was a mere uttermost escalation – an example for us to visualize the process that is taking over in High Mountain Land of Georgia. The process that includes but is not limited to the terror of the local residents and complete disparagement of their interests. Our government serves for the interests of business, and the police protects them.

About the recently published Gov’t statement, that the small size of the HPP ensures harmlessness of region ecology – it’s a manipulative lie. The smallness in size and volume doesn’t guarantee its usefulness and eco-friendliness. We can use the HPP construction in the Khde Ravine, Kazbegi region, as an example. The hydropower plant constructed there, though “small” in size caused drying up of the river.   

The problem is quite easy to solve, actually, if we look at it this way; what is it we want, what are our priorities – illusionary economic development, which in reality means the gain in fortune for a small social circle, or do we want ecological and social justice, which in turn does not discriminate healthy economic development.”

By Nini Dakhundaridze