Head of Environmental NGO on Hunger Strike in Tbilisi

TBILISI- Non-Governmental Organization Guerrilla Gardening Tbilisi head Nata Peradze is on a hunger strike outside Tbilisi City Hall to protest the cutting down of trees to build a block of flats.

Peradze says she will continue her protest until members of the Ecology and Landscaping Service Department are dismissed and replaced with qualified staff.

“The only guilty people are those in the Mayor’s Office. They control the contractors and should be held accountable,” Peradze said as she called on others to join her protest.

Around 40 trees were cut down on August 17 on Tbilisi’s Kazbegi street after an assessment company issued a report claiming the trees were diseased.

The Mayor’s Office said the order to remove the trees was made based on the company's report. Local environmentalists claim the report is flawed and the trees were cut down because of lucrative construction contracts for the city.

On August 18, Tbilisi's Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the conduct of some individuals at the Mayor’s Office after samples of the trees were taken to a lab for an official analysis.

Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania ordered a 10-day moratorium on the cutting down of trees in the city until the findings of the lab's findings are released.

According to Narmania, the Mayor’s Office will once again review the removal of trees and green areas in the city.

“We’ve made some changes and tightened the rules for cutting down trees or destroying green spaces, but it seems the issue needs more attention,” he noted.

The Mayor's Office also noted that the city's Supervision Department appears to be responsible for violating existing construction regulations and needs to be investigated for their activities.

An independent MP from Tbilisi’s City Council, Alexander Elisashvili, also joined the protesters, claiming that several City Hall officials should also be held responsible for their decisions.

“It’s quite obvious that the city government’s general indifference and lack of oversight have caused Tbilisi’s green spaces to be destroyed,” said Elisashvili, who was also questioned by the City Prosecutor’s Office on August 19.

Guerrilla Gardening said at the weekend that they hope to expand their activities beyond protests against urban planning in Tbilisi, and instead, force the government into a national dialogue about the overall environmental situation throughout the country.

By Thea Morrison
Edited by Nicholas Waller

Photo: Mariam Bakradze/Netgazeti