On November 20-21, 2017, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili met with the locals of Sagarejo, the villages of Tivi and Zinobiani of the Kvareli municipality, the village of Iliatsminda of the Sighnaghi municipality, the villages of Khornabuji and Choeti of the Dornoplistskaro municipality, the villages of Areshperani and Kabali of the Lagodekhi municipality, and villages of Uzuntala, Ganjala and Karajala of the Kabali community.

The common problems of the region are the difficulties in the registration of lands, lack of municipal transport, absence of outpatient facility and lack of 24-hour supply of water, which is even not safe for drinking. In addition, according to the locals, majority of them were deprived of social assistance for unknown reasons.

Schools and kindergarten buildings require complete rehabilitation in Sagarejo. Only one hospital operates in the city, which cannot receive all patients due to its small size and therefore, the population has to go to the capital for medical assistance. According to the locals, oncologic and allergic diseases have become more frequent after the crash of oil well and eruption of oil near the villages of Patardzeuli and Ninotsminda in 2004; coal coking creates additional threat to health.

There is no school, kindergarten or store in the village of Choeti, road infrastructure is poor, gasification process is delayed, electricity supply is restricted.

The Kabali community is mainly inhabited by the Azeri population. Local population has no access to the state or local services due to the lack of knowledge of the Georgian language, which makes their integration into society more difficult. There is no kindergarten in the community; the language barrier hinders school education; children go to kindergarten in the village of Baisubani to study the state language. Household appliances are out of order due to the low voltage of electricity; some districts are left without communal communication at all. According to the locals, the first public school of Kabali has not been repaired since 1975 and requires complete rehabilitation. The community does not have a house of culture; there are no outpatient facilities in any villages. The issue of the mosque is also important for the locals; the building is not the property of the community, but is under the ownership of the state, unlike the Patriarchate of Georgia.

The Areshperani community is populated by eco-migrants from Adjara and ethnic Ossetians, together with locals. Part of the population thinks that the deprivation of social assistance was politically motivated. The Areshperani kindergarten is functioning in a few rooms of the public school building. The village has the problem of road infrastructure, including lighting; there is no outpatient facility in the village and migration of the population is high.

According to the population of the village of Tivi, inadequately high tariff was imposed after the electricity company was changed. The amount indicated in the bills is several times higher than the actual volume of the consumed electricity. The village is inhabited by the Avars and it is worth noting that the Avar language has been taught at the Tivi public school for a year now on the basis of the Public Defender’s recommendation.

According to the locals, drinking water is contaminated and they have to fetch water from long distances. The local population uses outpatient facilities of the neighboring villages, which is related to additional expenses. Road infrastructure is also poor. There is no kindergarten in the village; only school readiness program is functioning; the school sports hall needs to be repaired. The population wants to build a chapel in the village center with their finances, but they are not able to obtain a permit. The Public Defender visited a library in the village of Tivi, which had been opened by Deputy Public Defender Ekaterine Skhiladze within the framework of the Kato Mikeladze award.

Following the recommendation of the Public Defender, the Udi language has been taught in the Zinobiani public school inhabited by the Udis since 2016. According to the local population, the main source of their income is their livestock, but they have no enough pastures. There is no outpatient facility in Zinobiani and locals have to go to the village of Gavazi for that purpose. There is no sports hall, outdoor lighting or children's playground and the yard of the house of culture has poor infrastructure.