The National Agency For Cultural Heritage Preservation deems Ushguli protests baseless
By Inga Kakulia
Wednesday, August 14
The protest sparked by yet another collapse of one of the Svaneti towers, the residents of Ushguli are asking for the immediate restoration work. The residents have blocked the entrance to Ushguli and say that if not paid proper attention, most of the towers still left standing, won’t make it past this winter.
The National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation has responded to these protests and called the actions of the locals groundless since according to the agency, the plans to begin restoration work is already in place and a lot has already been done to preserve the towers in Svaneti already. The agency’s official statement reads:
“With the state declaring the preservations of the architectural structure of Svaneti as one of the main priorities and the multiple complex rehabilitation programs currently at work, the dissatisfaction of the local residents seems illogical and does not comply with the objective reality.”
The agency had has restored about 80 Svaneti towers, traditional houses, and cult buildings in several villages in Mestia during the last years, as part of the Svaneti Cultural Heritage Protection Plan. According to the agency the rehabilitation process will be much wider this year, and by the end of the year, it will cover 10 ancestral community villages, 8 towers, 2 architectural complexes, and Iphari Archangel Church Restoration.
But the protestors insist that the construction work is of bad quality and that the resources are being wasted. “The state spends money. Chazhashi is being rehabilitated, millions have already been spent, but the quality isn’t there. Today this village is in danger of avalanche. We are asking for a concrete deadline for when avalanche defense work will begin. That money would have been better spent on this issue,” was said during the protest.
The head of the National Agency of Cultural Heritage Preservation also responded to the events. Nikoloz Antidze said that the protesters' claims are unacceptable as the process of rehabilitation of Svaneti’s cultural heritage monuments is actively underway.
Antidze said that this year is a turning point as large-scale work on monuments using the state budget began this year. “Large-scale rehabilitation processes were launched this year with the state budget. Only 23 monuments are being rehabilitated this year… Preparation of project documentation for 30 monuments has already begun this year and rehabilitation will start next year. As of today, 160 monitoring sites have been identified as a result of monitoring by the agency. Neither human nor financial resources of the country are enough to take care of the problem all at once. We have a five-year plan for these monuments to be done step by step,” said Antadze.
Architectural complex Ushguli is a unique cultural-historical ensemble and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
