Saakashvili: New Roads to Put an End to Javakheti’s Isolation
President Saakashvili said on April 19 that a total of “GEL 400 million [USD 219 million] is planned to be spent over the course of the next few years” on rehabilitating and constructing roads in Samtskhe-Javakheti, which will “put an end to the isolation of this region,” which is in southern Georgia.
Saakashvili was speaking in Akhalkalaki, a predominantly ethnic Armenian populated town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, at a groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of the Akhalkalaki-Akhaltsikhe road, which is planned for completion by next year.
“Later this autumn we will launch the construction of another new highway linking Akhalkalaki with Tbilisi; GEL 300 million will be spent on the construction of this road,” Saakashvili said.
“[New roads] mean that Javakheti’s geographical isolation from the rest of Georgia will end once and for all; this means that local peasants [sic]will be able to freely export their products from here; this means that more businesses will come here; this means that more transit will take place here… Roads and development – these are what Javakheti needs now,”
The rehabilitation of roads in this region is also envisaged by the U.S. funded USD 295.3 million aid program in frames of the Millennium Challenge Account. A major part of the funding – USD 102 million – will be spent towards rehabilitating some 245 kilometers of the main road traversing the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.
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