Resettled Imereti residents go on hunger strike

Today, ten residents of the Imereti Lowland, whose houses get into the Olympic construction zone, dissatisfied with the actions of the "Olympstroy" and local authorities, have gone on hunger strike.

"Today, ten residents of the Lower Imereti - each in the individual order - made a decision and filed applications to the administration of the Adler District that they go on hunger strike. Their demand is to invite Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Dmitri Anatolievich Medvedev to come to them and clear out everything in place; because at present even the territorial authorities cannot settle the problems with appraisals and resettlement. Dmitri Kozak, who came there and had a meeting with Imereti residents, announced publicly that on February 20 everyone would be happy: the appraisal would be over, money would be received and people would move into the houses they had ordered… But now even those people who had moved in (they are very few) are offered to move out. Maybe the same awaits us," Pavel Zhukovskiy, one of the protesters, said.

According to his version, now land in the Imereti Lowland is estimated as in 1.4 million per 0.01 hectare, whereas the first estimate had yielded 2.4 million.

"We don't agree with the current figure, because you just open any newspaper and you won't find any price below 3 million roubles per 0.01 hectare in the Adler District," said Mr Zhukovskiy.

As he said, residents are also dissatisfied with the quality of those houses where the local authorities want to accommodate them.

"What is our way out? To be on the bit of the authorities and take those houses, which they've built for us? Firstly, subsoil waters are very close there. Secondly, the quality of construction is very poor, as they don't pay to the builders. Thirdly, the houses built for people in Nekrasovskoe village are below ecological norms, although they try to conceal it. There used foam plastic there, which is impossible for habitation: it emits poisonous phenol. For sure, this foam plastic had bypassed any sanitary and epidemic supervising instances. Even if it had, the documents, I think, had been forged. Anyway, those samples that we took and studied, with the help of our friends, at independent laboratories showed: within 10 years this foam plastic will emit phenol and other hazardous substances," Mr Zhukovskiy said to Radio Liberty.

In case the Kremlin remains deaf to protesters' appeals, residents of Imereti see no other choice but a termless hunger strike.

"Because those people, who now study chances to sue, are already intimidated. And they told us frankly: you'll get nothing!" he said.

Meanwhile, residents of the Imereti Lowland and the Adler District of Sochi have already expressed their support to hunger-strikers, as reported by the IA "Collective action" with reference to local activists.

The hunger-strikers do not exclude that new supporters will join them. On May 30, ecologists and protesting resettlers plan to hold a rally, the "FederalPress" reports.

The Department of the Krasnodar Territory for implementing powers of preparing 2014 Winter Olympic Games gave no comments yet.