Opposition New Georgia Member: Trees Deliberately Burned at Lisi Lake
A member of the non-parliamentary opposition party New Georgia, Levan Khabeishvili, has released a video which shows that hundreds of fir trees with fire damage at Lisi Lake above the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The video shows that at around 15-20 meters from the lake, a number of healthy fir trees have had their trunks burned.
“The fire was set deliberately. This is in someone’s business interest. Even the grass is not burnt nearby,” Khabeishvili accuses.
The cameraman says that he was told about this by a citizen, who also called the Mayor’s Office, but said no measures had been taken.
“Among the trees is a whole line of destroyed firs. A total catastrophe! Hundreds of trees have been deliberately burned and, unfortunately, there has been no reaction to it from the Mayor’s Office. This is a criminal offence,” Khabeishvili tells viewers. He then calls on society to share the video and tag the Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi in order to protest the burning.
“I call on the residents of Tbilisi who care about the ecology and fate of our city to share this post,” he said. “I believe that when these trees wither they will be cut down and not long after some kind of construction will begin—a residential complex or hotel, perhaps,” Khabeishvili said.
Lisi Lake is a small lake in the vicinity of Tbilisi. It belongs to the Kura River valley, home to a large mixed-use development project by the same name.
The landscape is rocky and arid with shrub vegetation and plots of steppe. The lake and surrounding area provide a habitat for a variety of different bird species. In addition to various avian species, the area around the lake provides shelter for a number of animals, including turtles, foxes and hares.
The Mayor of Tbilisi, Davit Narmania, has since commented on the issue, claiming that the trees were burned three years ago when a fire broke out at Lisi Lake. "It is a shame that the opposition is trying to mislead society with such disinformation. These trees burned three years ago, when fire broke out due to the summer heat," the Mayor said.
Thea Morrison