Permit Problems, Landslide Danger, Halt Huge Oil Pipeline

KIEV, Ukraine, August 2, 2004 (ENS) - By Rezo Saqevarishvili

AKHALTSIKHE, Georgia, August 2, 2004 (ENS) - For over a month, huge pipes over a meter in diameter have lined the roads leading to mountain villages in the Borjomi and Akhaltsikhe districts of Georgia. Destined to form a section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, BTC, oil pipeline, they have become a focus of protest in surrounding villages, all of which lie in an active landslide zone.

"Heavy rain is enough to cause landslides that put our village at risk," said David Gogoladze, of Dgvari village in Borjomi. "Imagine what impact 40 tonne vehicles would have." Villagers are appealing for resettlement or an end to the construction.

The Georgian government suspended work on BTC following a decision by British Petroleum (BP) decision to start construction in the ecologically vulnerable Borjomi region, despite its repeated failures to obtain the necessary environmental certification to proceed.

Construction of the BTC pipeline has been halted for violating the Georgian law. (Photo courtesy WWF)

Georgian Deputy Environment Minister Zaal Lomtadze told environmental group WWF that his ministry sent BP a formal reminder on July 12 that the company must apply for construction permits for the Borjomi region. BP again failed to make the application. Photographs taken by local WWF staff reveal that BP illegally went ahead with construction for more than a week without permits, until the government intervened on July 22 and stopped work in Borjomi.

"BP has been caught red-handed," said James Leaton of WWF. "They have made all kinds of promises about how the BTC project would boost Georgian sovereignty, yet as soon as Georgian law no longer fits their schedule, they violate it without hesitation."

Plans for the project began in 1995 and oil is scheduled to start flowing in spring 2005. When it is completed, the $3 billion BTC will be the world's largest pipeline, stretching 1,090 miles and transporting one million barrels of crude oil a day from the Caspian Sea port of Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.

Georgia has the shortest section, at 248 kilometers, but had the lengthiest and most problematic negotiations. Construction work has been met with constant hostility from the local population, both in Kvemo Kartli Samtskhe-Javakheti, eastern and southern provinces respectively.

The mountain villages of Dgvari, Sakire, Tadzrisi, Tiseli and Tkemlana sit on the landslide zone. A total of 300 families live there and they say the construction work has multiplied the risk to their homes.

The area is dotted with churches and monasteries from the Middle Ages. The 14th century Tilesi Monastery Complex lies just two kilometers from the village Tiseli, at the confluence of two rivers.

"Back under the Communists, there was a study on this but the documents have disappeared. There should have been a new geological study before this decision was made," said head of the Tiseli community Giorgi Chumburidze.

The Ministry of the Interior has registered 70 instances of picketing along the length of the pipeline. In June, riot police were used to disperse an action in the village of Sartichala, in the Gardabani district.

Residents of Dgvari village recently blockaded construction workers on the road adjoining their village, demanding resettlement. "We need money or a plot of land to enable us to go elsewhere. I love my village, but I cannot sacrifice my family for it," said villager Mamuka Gogoladze.

13th century St. Saba Church of Safara Monastry Complex in the Akhaltsikhe region, a national monument (Photo courtesy Ministry of Culture of Georgia)

In a letter to the villagers, BP manager Ed Johnson wrote, "The route that has been chosen for the pipeline is safe and landslide activity poses no threat to the pipeline. However, I agree that the situation is grave and needs an immediate response from the government."

The local authorities have become indifferent to road blockades, however, so villagers eventually resorted to taking local journalist Tsaulina Malazonia hostage, demanding that officials from Tbilisi come to visit. As a result, the head of the Borjomi municipality, Ivane Gelashvili, promised that the prime minister will receive some village representatives shortly to discuss their problems.

"If we are deceived again, we will reblockade the road. They have left us no alternative," said villager Levan Lomidze. "In 30 years, we have been offered no solution. We have no time for politics, cinema or the Olympic Games. All we care about is the weather. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, so I will spend today fixing holes in my house. It has already been destroyed once and I rebuilt it. But I will have nothing left if that happens again."

While the BTC pipeline has become a visible and dramatic focus of discontent, it has also offered villagers new leverage with authorities, which have been ignoring them for years. Two weeks ago, BP representatives succeeded in lifting a road blockade by promising to use their influence with the local authorities on behalf of the villagers. A precedent may have been set.

Georgian Environment Minister Tamar Lebanidze was reported as saying that she would not have approved the route through Borjomi selected by BP in November 2002, because of the risk of catastrophic environmental damage in the event of pipeline rupture.

{Rezo Saqevarishvili is reporter with the Imedi TV Company in Tbilisi. This report is published in cooperation with the Institute for War and Reporting, http://www.iwpr.net.}