In accordance with Article 21 of the Organic Law of Georgia on the Public Defender of Georgia, the Public Defender of Georgia, George Tugushi, has addressed the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, Koba Subeliani, with a recommendation to study the condition of facilities of compact settlements with the aim of providing IDPs with adequate accommodation and of transferring these facilities to their ownership. The Public Defender recommends that the Ministry carry out the relevant rehabilitation works in the facilities which are planned to be transferred to IDPs in order to provide them with adequate accommodation in the shortest time possible and transfer IDPs from the facilities that are not subject to rehabilitation to alternative accommodation.

In addition, the Public Defender has demanded that the Minister provide him with information (within the 10-day term established by Article 23 of the Organic Law of Georgia on the Public Defender of Georgia) about whether the Ministry is planning to transfer Likani 2 and Likani 3 to the private ownership of the IDPs living in these facilities.

In 2011, the Public Defender’s Office carried out monitoring of the facilities of compact settlement of IDPs in the entire Georgia. As a result of the monitoring, it was ascertained that several dozens of facilities of compact settlement are in an appalling state. In particular:

1. City of Tbilisi, a hostel of the Agrarian University – Buildings 3 and 4 located at the 13th kilometer of Agmashenebeli Valley (This facility was transferred to IDPs in private ownership.);
2. City of Tbilisi, the Students Town in Bagebi – Buildings 4 and 5 located in the Settlement of Bagebi (This facility was transferred to IDPs in private ownership.);
3. Town of Borjomi, Likani 2 and Likani 3 located at 63 Meskheti St. in the town of Borjomi (This facility has not been transferred to IDPs in private ownership.);
4. Khobi District, a hostel of IDPs located at 9 Chkondideli St;
5. Khobi District, apartments of the farm enterprise of the village of Sajijao;
6. Khobi District, an administrative building of the village of Sajijao;
7. Town of Chkhorotsku, a building of a canning factory;
8. City of Kutaisi, former Tourist Base “Rioni” (located at 5 Akhalgazrdoba St.);
9. City of Kutaisi, former nursery school no. 22 (located at 1 Nikea St., the 1st turn);
10. Town of Gori, Autocamping (tourist base) (located at 63 Sukhishvili St.);
11. Settlement of Surami, sanatorium “Poladi”;
12. Town of Poti, the Ayeti hotel (located at 12A Mshvidobadze St.);
13. Town of Poti, nursery school “Mziuri” (located at 1 King Tamara St.);
14. Khashuri District, sanatorium “Mziuri” (located at 100 Agmashenebeli St., settlement of Surami).

The monitoring of the aforementioned facilities revealed important problems. In particular, the condition in the abovementioned buildings is extremely grave: the roofs are damaged; the water pipes and sewage system are out of order; in a number of cases, the facilities of compact settlement are in an unsanitary condition; water leaks into the cellars. In addition, the walls of the residential buildings are damaged. There are no window panes in the entrances, and the staircases have no railings. The floors of the buildings are also damaged. In some of the facilities of compact settlement, water leaks in the rooms of IDPs, causing dampness. In a part of the facilities, there is a problem with drinking water, while in a number of them, it is impossible to live.

The situation is especially grave in the facility of compact settlement located at 5 Akhalgazrdoba St. in Kutaisi –Tourist Base “Rioni”. The facility consists of wooden cottages built in the Soviet period. Due to their age, the cottages are practically on the verge of decomposition. According to the information at our disposal, a part of the IDPs living in the said facility have been given alternative accommodations. Fifteen families continue to live there, and, considering the existing situation, they need to be accommodated immediately. According to these IDPs, representatives of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia have declared that, due to the lack of newly rehabilitated accommodations, the remaining IDPs have to wait for the next stage of accommodation. There is a similar problem in the facility of “Resort Amagleba”. There is a wooden cottage there which is on the verge of destruction. Thirty-four IDP families are living in the said facility.

It should be noted that the problem of the Tourist Base “Rioni” is reflected in the Public Defender’s special report on the human rights situation of internally displaced and conflict-affected persons which contains relevant recommendations.

It should also be mentioned that at the time of the monitoring Likani 2 and Likani 3 were not provided with electricity. In the hostel of the Agrarian University, the disorder of the pipes made drinking water dirty. In addition, Buildings 4 and 5 of the Students’ Town in Bagebi don’t have access to natural gas.

In accordance with Sub-Paragraph 2.1.1 of the Action Plan for the implementation of the State Strategy on IDPs for 2009-2011, the first stage of the provision of IDPs with long-term accommodation consists of rehabilitation and transfer of collective centers in private ownership. Based on the said sub-paragraph, before the collective centers are transferred to IDPs in ownership, they are to be rehabilitated and repaired.