PM Presents 251 IDP Families with Apartments on 12th Anniversary of August War
"There is no other way but peace. Our greatest task is to regain our land peacefully, by working hard every day, by learning every day, through the future of these children, their education and, most importantly, by building a successful, democratic, and European state," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated during the ceremony of presenting 251 IDP families with apartments in Dirsi's newly constructed apartment blocks.
The head of the government noted that 7 August is the gravest day in the recent history of the country.
"It is the gravest day in the recent history of our country. The day when the war that had begun caused us to lose our citizens, our soldiers, 20% of Georgia's territory and, of course, it is highly symbolic that today, in the country that was occupied by Russia 12 years ago, we still care for our IDPs, and we still have many IDPs that require the care of the state. We all understand that it is a drop in the ocean when we present our IDPs with 251 residential apartments with such joy, together with the children, and primarily because of the children. These are people who had to leave their homes behind as a result of this war and who lacked a roof over their heads to this day. Of course, we all understand that this is a drop in the ocean but we must continue for the future of these children and we must celebrate days like this as well.
"We all need to understand that despite the fact that over the past 12 years, the state has presented IDPs with more than 21,000 residential apartments and another 2,000 IDPs will receive new housing by the end of this year. This is still nothing because it is our duty, the duty of every Georgian, each and every citizen of Georgia - in addition to ensuring that your daily lives are comfortable - to also ensure that we all return peacefully to our land, to our old houses, so that this can remain here, as an additional gift. We must remember one thing - there is no other way but peace; our greatest task is to regain our land peacefully, by working hard every day, by learning every day, through the future of these children, their education and, most importantly, by building a successful, democratic, and European state. Every Georgian government, regardless of who they are, must fight together and stand together over the years until the ultimate goal is reached, and this goal is the full de-occupation of the country. This must be the goal that unites each and every citizen of Georgia. I congratulate you on this day and I also want to dilute the joy of these children with grief, and by paying respects to our heroic soldiers and the brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for the unity and the integrity of Georgia. I would like to wish these children, first and foremost, for this country to never again need the loss of life in order to restore its territorial integrity. Congratulations!" the Prime Minister noted.
Ekaterine Tikaradze, Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Affairs, addressed the audience together with the head of the government during the ceremony of personally presenting several IDP families with keys to their new apartments.