22:50, 31 May 2013

Socially vulnerable Tbilisi residents demand housing

On May 30, in front of the Mayoralty of Tbilisi, vulnerable citizens held their protest, demanding to solve their housing problems. In response, a Mayoralty official said that the state has no money to fix the problem immediately.

The action was attended by about 30 people, who also protested against the criteria, by which they distribute the housing built under the joint project of Tbilisi Mayoralty and the Swiss Development Agency.

As stated by the protesters, most vulnerable people fail to fit these criteria. Those who do are not really provided with housing, the "Georgia Online" reports.

No incidents during the protest action are reported.

In his turn, Mamuka Katsarava, the head of the social service of the Mayoralty, said that the process of housing distribution "would be transparent and fair." However, according to his story, the state is simply unable to provide apartments to all the signatories to the demand. "The first step is to provide housing to those most in need," said Mamuka Katsarava, as the "InterPressNews" reports.