02 March 2009, 18:00
Residents lodge a complaint to the SC against new Sochi port
Today, a suit was lodged to the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia against construction of the second cargo port in the Imereti Valley in Sochi. Representatives of the public assert that there is no need for the second cargo port in Sochi, as it was officially stated that Sochi needs much less cargoes for Olympic construction than declared earlier.
Valery Brinikh, co-chair of the "International Socio-Ecologic Union", and Natalia Kalinovskaya, head of the board of the territorial public self-government "Psou", believe that putting the second port on the list of Olympic construction plan is against the federal environmental legislation.
"It was officially stated that the Olympiad construction will need 68 million tons of cargoes. And when the idea of the second port appeared, another figure - over 100 million tons was mentioned. Thus, what's the need for the second port, if one will be quite enough?" asked Natalia Kalinovskaya as quoted by the "Gazeta.Ru".
In the opinion of the claimants, the life of several thousands people "will become intolerable, and the best Sochi beaches will be ruined" by the neighbourhood to this port.
The ecologists also stand against the construction, stating that two new ports in the vicinity of Sochi will completely destroy the existing rare wetlands and unique seaside ecological systems in the Imereti Valley.
