Ugly one-storied demolished buildings in Mirtskhulava Street # 9/11 belonged to the broadcloth factory during soviet time. In 1990s shareholders of the factory occupied one part of the demolished brick building and homeless people settled in the second part. Some of them even constructed houses in free space. Currently the settlement is empty and soon all buildings in the area will be razed to the ground by heavy technique.
Lawyer of one part of inhabitants Davit Jalabadze: “The court passed verdict on eviction on June 30, 2010. However, the data in the court judgment and notice of the enforcement bureau do not coincide with current data. Creditor had registered 36 675 sq. meters of land in the Mirtskhulava Street # 9/11. The plot had completely different cadastre code. Nowadays, present creditor GeoMeridian has registered two parts of the plot with the spaces of 5 540 sq. meters and 25 139 sq. meters with completely different cadastre codes. Apparently, GeoMeridian has sold out one part of its property and the court judgment mentions completely different entity – Ltd Titisi which occupies space of 995 sq. meters. Thus, cadastre codes and property owners are different from the data provided by the Enforcement National Bureau.”
According to the lawyer, there is decision of the chairman of the National Bureau of Enforcement dated by April 22, 2013, which states that there are no legal grounds to conduct enforcement activities.
A month ago, a son of Nodar Karumidze, inhabitant of the Mirtskhulava Street # 9/11, died of cancer. Karumidze said despite his many requests to allow him to stay in the flat until the 40th day after his son’s death the owner decided to evict him. “I buried my son 10 days ago. He lived here together with me and my wife. I have nowhere to go. I am grateful to the district administration who will pay flat-rent during 3 years but I request them to allow me stay here for another 1-2 weeks to mark the 40th day after my son’s death in this flat. I have not yet found a flat where I will take my things. I am shareholder of this factory; that means I did not illegally break into this building in the past. I had a Ltd in the yard – I even hold order issued by the district administration in 1992.”
Lolita Mamisashvili built a little house in the yard of the broadcloth factory in 1993. Mamisashvili said the city hall had issued permission on her to construct a house on the former “rubbish dump, but the factory GeoMeridiani permanently argued about the space with them. “They have changed our address from Mirtskhulava street # 9 into # 9/11 though our communal bills still come with old address. They did their best to expel us into the street. They promise to pay 300 lari rent during 6 months – that is all. We even cannot dismantle house and take construction materials of it,” Mamisashvili said, who lives in the house together with her husband and families of married daughters; her husband had a heart attack in the past.
Representatives of the GeoMeridiani refused to comment on the issue. Manager of the public relation department at the National Bureau of Enforcement Nino Popkhadze told us: “The National Bureau of Enforcement received application on this case in August 2012. The bureau conducted intensive meetings with the legal representatives of the parties, population, creditors and private owners. Our police officers several times arrived at the site. Socially indigent families and IDPs lived in the Mirtskhulava Street # 9/11. In order not to leave people in the street, we met local authority, Ministry of the Internally Displaced Persons from Occupied Territories, Refugees and Accommodation to advocate this case. The deputy district governor took responsibility to pay rent to the families. The Bureau does its best to support the creditors to receive alternative spaces.”
Eviction was not a surprise for big part of inhabitants. Representatives of the National Bureau of Enforcement said the families had enough time to leave old houses and find new ones. Officers of the Bureau took the sick inhabitants out of their houses by hand-barrows. Unlike last years, violence was not used during eviction and process finished without incidents.
As we found out big part of evicted families have already found alternative spaces. However, nobody knows how long time the local self-government will pay rent for them and how long the allocated 300 lari will be enough to rent flat.
Giorgi Janelidze