Tbilisi. GYLA and EMC release a statement regarding public review of projected amendments to the Namakhvani HPP cascade operation conditions conducted at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.

“The ministry grossly violated requirements of both the Environmental Assessment Code of Georgia [1] and the Aarhus Convention [2] while conducting public review on December 20 that was of particular interest to the local population. Despite the fact that Deputies of Ministers of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia attended the meeting, the rule of carrying out of public review was violated in their presence. In particular, artificial obstacles were encountered by those interested in attending the meeting, attendees were not allowed to ask questions, critical questions were not answered at the meeting”, - is noted in the statement, - “We call on the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture to: abolish public review, conducted through gross violation of requirements of the Environmental Assessment Code; set a new date for public review; make sure that public reviews are held in accordance with the Environmental Assessment Code in public spaces accessible for population to be affected; ensure proper involvement of population, to be affected by projects, and other interested people in decision-making process as stipulated by both the Environmental Assessment Code and the Aarhus Convention”.

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Source: https://gyla.ge