26 September 2008, 23:53
Imereti Valley residents at war against construction of Sochi Cargo Port
Protest actions are held in the Imereti Valley practically on the daily basis, but September 26 was a "silence day". Therefore, the "green" activists were marking, together with local residents, the trees, which they had managed to save from cutting.
"Yesterday, on September 25, again with no permits, the customer of the '2nd Cargo District of the Port of Sochi' - the Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) 'Rosmorport' - again tried to start their works," Alexei Zubanov, leader of the Association of Investors and Entrepreneurs of the Imereti Valley, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "However, this attempt was also stopped by active resistance of local residents."
Mr Zubanov has noted that residents were forced to create a "live barrier" in front of construction machinery, while the militia was getting into the situation. Applications to militia on the fact of the incident were filed both by the contractors and local residents.
According to local activist Natalia Kalinovskaya, currently, residents of the Imereti Valley can do nothing else but hold protest actions. For example, on October 5, they plan to hold a sanctioned rally near the reception office of the "Olympstroy".
Besides, local residents plan to bring an action against the administration of the Krasnodar Territory and Governor Alexander Tkachov. "At construction of the port," Ms Kalinivskaya has added, "not only Russian laws are broken, but international ones as well. And eventually, where are those blessings that should be granted to resettlers? We don't see them."
Author: Aslan Shazzo, CK correspondent