30 May 2008, 13:03
Historical buildings dismantled in Tbilisi
On May 29, the organization for preservation of Tbilisi named "Tbilisi Amkari" held a preventive protest action with posters "SOS Tbilisi", standing against dismantling historical buildings in the centre of the Georgian capital.
Alexander Elisashvili, chairman of the "Tbilisi Amkari", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in the centre of Tbilisi, right near the building of the Mayoralty in the Freedom Square, old three-storey houses are pulled down, and shopping centres will be built in their stead.
"Instead of most beautiful houses we'll have multi-storey business centres, which is illegal. Soon we'll have a city of new buildings and shopping centres, but this city will no longer be Tbilisi. With these new constructions in place, we'll have to say goodbye to the dream to join the UNESCO Protection Programme," Mr Elisashvili said.
According to his story the dismantling process is backed-up by the father of the representative of Georgian authorities Giga Bokeriya - Levan Bokeriya (author and architect of the idea), brother of the chairman of the Committee for Defence and Security of Georgia Givi Targamadze - Zaza Targamadze, and Lasha Papashvili, the largest shareholder of the Bank "Republic".
Author: Edita Badasian, CK correspondent
