2019-04-22
Mamuka Bakhtadze, Prime Minister of Georgia praised great professionalism and patience demonstrated by law enforcement officers in Pankisi Valley yesterday. Head of Government of Georgia visited the wounded officers at the hospital today.
In the opinion of the Prime Minister of Georgia, patience demonstrated yesterday is in itself a sign of great professionalism and thanked them for it.
Head of Government of Georgia commented on the development of events yesterday by stating that what society has witnessed is absolutely unacceptable.
"Anyone and everyone is entitled to express oneself through a peaceful protest and this is one of the greatest achievements of our team in power. During these 6 or 7 years we clearly and vividly demonstrated this. Naturally, violation of the law, especially through methods used yesterday - aggression towards law enforcement officers - is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, follow-up measures will be adequate" noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Head of Government of Georgia also focused on the need to keep constant dialogue with local communities and patriotism of Pankisi Valley residents.
"Never ever in any region, settlement or village of the country has any project been implemented by authorities without public disclosure, consultations and open dialogue with local communities. This is the signature of our team in power and this dialogue is continued. Completely ungrounded statements were made yesterday and today from people, who have been misled or engaged in cheap populism, claiming that Georgia needs no development in the energy sector. Our country has two enemies: occupation and poverty. We need to combat poverty through the development of economy and additional energy is required for economic growth and development. Without power energy and additional capacity of generation and transmission we cannot build the economy and overcome challenges that we currently face. This is a very simple economic principle. We are aimed at the advancement of living standards to approximate them with those of the EU. Per capita consumption of power energy in Eastern Europe exceeds that of Georgia to a great extent. It means a very simple thing - when economy advances, it requires additional energy" added the Prime Minister of Georgia.
According to the Head of Government of Georgia, energy will get developed only by taking into account the best interests of local population and no environmental harm whatsoever.
Prime Minister of Georgia urged everyone in the country to keep away from making emotional comments and to form opinions only on the basis of verified and validated information.