Saakashvili: 1,600 Houses ‘Destroyed’ in Buffer Zone

President Saakashvili said that 1,600 houses were “torched and destroyed” in the villages in the areas adjacent to South Ossetia, which were occupied by the Russian forces.

He said while meeting with the local administration officials in the town of Gori on October 17, that providing people with housing before the winter was the key part of the government’s 18-month program.

“Building houses and rebuilding infrastructure is a priority of the 18-month program along with taking measures to get back the country’s economy to the condition in which it was before the war,” Saakashvili said.

According to the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of coordinating housing project, a total of 3,984 new houses are currently being built in the Shida Kartli region for those who fled the villages, located inside breakaway South Ossetia. 1,636 houses will be repaired and in addition 500 houses will be bought by the state for displaced families, according to the Ministry.

Meanwhile, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on October 17, that it planned to convert unused public buildings into apartments for some 5,000 persons who cannot return to their homes in the long term.

It said that that more than 20,000 people returned back to their homes in the areas from where the Russian troops withdrew on 8 October.

“We are warning all of those going back to watch out for mines and unexploded ordnance. Some casualties have already been registered,” UNHCR said.

It also noted that it had already closed a tent camp for IDPs in Gori after the last of the displaced left for their homes in the buffer zone, or were relocated to collective centres.

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