On May 3-4, 2017, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili visited the Dmanisi and Gardabani municipalities of the Kvemo Kartli village, where he met with representatives of the local self-governments and the acting Governor of the region. Residents of Dmanisi and the village of Irgachai, as well as the village of Gachiani village of the Gardabani municipality, complained about social problems, inadequate road infrastructure, water supply and transport, as well as lack of information about ecological situation. Several villages of the Dmanisi municipality are awaiting granting status by the Mountain Law.

One of the most important issues in the Dmanisi municipality is providing adequate housing for homeless people. The Public Defender visited vulnerable families, including children, living in poor conditions at the former hospital of Dmanisi. Although the local authorities use all the available resources to help the families, it is necessary the central authorities to allocate an appropriate building for social housing, which would be a long-term solution to the problem.

In spite of the current programs and certain progress, lack of knowledge of the state language, early marriage and domestic violence are still acute problems in Dmanisi. Additional efforts should be taken by relevant bodies to increase the number of students at the Georgian sector of the public school in the village of Irgachai. In addition, it is necessary to inform the population of Dmanisi, especially the population of the villages of Vardisubani, Mashavera, Didi and Patara Dmanisi, of the efforts carried out for the purpose of minimizing the damage caused by mining activities.

The main problem of the population of Noesubani – a Roma settlement in the village of Gachiani – is absence of road infrastructure, drinking water system and school transport. About 90 people live in Noesubani and most of them are children. Considering that Noesubani is quite far from another settlement, the Public Defender considers it necessary to provide the settlement with school transport. According to the representatives of the Governor, the relevant decision has already been made. We hope that school transportation will be available for the children of the settlement in the coming days. In addition, it is necessary to allocate financial resources to arrange a children's playground in Noesubani.

It is welcome that through the involvement of relevant state agencies and non-governmental organizations, all persons living in the Roma settlement have already received ID cards and the real estate of almost every family has been registered in accordance with law.

The Public Defender discussed the problems of the population with Gogi Barbakadze, Governor of Dmanisi, Kakha Gugeshashvili, acting Governor of the Kvemo Kartli region, and Nugzar Salia, Deputy Governor of the region.

The Public Defender will further study the problems of the Kvemo Kartli population and, if necessary, will appeal to relevant agencies with recommendations.

At the end of the visit, Ucha Nanuashvili delivered a public lecture at Rustavi Ekvtime Takaishvili University, where he talked about the situation of human rights and freedoms in the country and introduced the Public Defender's mandate to students.