Residents of Greater Lilo Block Road Demanding Landfill Relocation

Residents of Greater Lilo held another protest demanding that the Lilo landfill be moved to another location and that they be given a meeting with officials responsible for the issue. Protesters also blocked the road today. Police were mobilized at the scene.

According to residents, they have been appealing to the relevant agencies with this demand for 16 years. They say the unbearable smell and unsanitary conditions in the area are harmful to the environment's health and significantly complicate the daily lives of locals.

One of the protesters told the online outlet Maughuebeli that despite numerous appeals, the responsible officials have not responded for years.

"We have been demanding for 16 years that this landfill be closed. For 16 years, we, our children and family members have been poisoning ourselves. Today we had a peaceful gathering, and this is already our second gathering. We have sent applications and written to all responsible officials, but not one responsible official meets with us. These responsible officials meet only separately with 20-30 people and talk to them as if everything is going very well, but people, we are so many residents, so many of us, and when they met us, we would be given an answer," says the protester. According to him, they were forced to block the territory and are now waiting for the responsible official to arrive. He said the officials have been on the road for 2 hours and have not yet reached them.

Residents of Greater Lilo demand that the Lilo landfill be closed and that a new landfill be built in its place that complies with appropriate standards.

One citizen told Maughuebeli that Kaha Kaladze promised that they would begin searching for a new territory. According to him, after the project was drafted, it became known that Lilo remained the best territory. The citizen asks why a tender worth 700,000 was needed and why it had to be proven to residents that the landfill is better here.

According to the citizen, Kaladze told a journalist a few days ago that they would have to fit within the budget. "We understand very well that changes to the budget cannot be made in just one day, but if not in one day, then within one year it must happen, and the promises that Mr. Kakha Kaladze made to us three years ago, that he would find a new territory, must not remain only on paper. A new territory must be a new territory, and we must urgently begin relocating to that territory," says the citizen.