13 September 2024

The anger at the mining practices in Chiatura Municipality of Western Georgia has forced the residents of Shukruti village to hold successive six-month protests with extreme measures. Houses that have been preserved for generations, precious vineyards, and beautiful gardens have all been taken away from farmers due the practice of mining under private land. While the residents of the village put the blame on Georgian Manganese for these disaster, the company denies every claim.

The government has shielded the company, while law enforcement has prosecuted and fined those protesting to protect the right to private property and a clean and safe environment. While demonstrators plea for help, the company, state officials and pro-government media call them “radicals” who have received compensation and now want to “extort” additional funds from the company...

After the ban and the apparent lack of attention from the government, despite the demonstrators’ many calls for a meeting with the Prime Minister, the Shukruti residents decided to move their protest to Chorvila, the village of Bidzina Ivanishvili – the founder and Honorary Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party. However, when they arrived in Chorvila on August 24, they were met by a large number of police and locals who prevented them from protesting...

As September approached with the limited spotlight on the protests, due to the focus on elections, the residents of Shukruti decided to take extreme measures and five of the demonstrators sewed their mouths shut, announcing a hunger strike. On September 11, they also held an overnight demonstration in front of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi. The demonstrators held banners with writings “GD+GM=Destruction”; “We demand justice”; “Don’t destroy our houses, don’t turn us into IDPs”; “The issue of family purity and territorial integrity is being decided today in Shukruti”...

The Chiatura Management Company, which has taken over the process management of mining locations in Chiatura since February 2024, denies all the claims made by the demonstrators. The Head of the Social Projects Department, Mirian Bichikashvili, shared a comment with Civil.ge in which he states that LTD Magharoeli has already paid out more than GEL 12 million (approximately USD 4.5 million) in compensation to the demonstrators, three times more than what was negotiated in 2021...

One of the persons, to whom allegedly the compensation was paid, Giorgi Naparidze told Netgazeti that he had not received any compensation and that the documents published by the company were forged. “Nikoloz Mirian Bichikashvili works in their compensation service, he was charged before with forging documents. They are waving some absurd documents that are forged,” he said...

It is still unclear whether the company’s claims that it has already compensated the Shukruti protesters are true or not, but the fact is that the village of Shukruti, Itkhvisi and others in the Chiatura municipality are examples of how the wrong practices of manganese mining are ruining the environment and natural habitat of Georgia. These practices have created a situation where many more people are getting sick, have high levels of metal in their bodies, and are living in deteriorating conditions every day.

The effect is not limited to these areas, as the dirty water of the Kvirala River later flows into the Rioni River, which eventually reaches the Black Sea, with the metal-laden dust traveling much further than the village or region. Whatever the outcome of the Shukruti case, the state does not seem to be taking action to protect the property and environment of its citizens.