Page 38 - GEORptJun18

The Georgian capital of Tbilisi will add 100 new buses to its public transport fleet this year and will restructure its route plan thanks to an agreement with French consultancy Systra, the city hall has announced. Tbilisi is home to a third of the population of Georgia. In addition to its residents, the city has seen an increasing number of foreign visitors and investors in recent years, all of which have put pressure on the existing infrastructure. City hall has been working closely with development partners like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to improve services and infrastructure. In recent years, Tbilisi has moved to gradually replace i ts old fleet of buses and replace it with newer, cleaner buses running on compressed natural gas. The capital currently has 530 buses on its streets and new mayor Kakha Kaladze, who was voted into his position last year, wants to add another 730 to the fleet in the next four years, as well as extra wagons and trains to the metro system. Redesigning the public transport route will be completed by the end of next year and will cost €0.8mn, €0.5mn of which will be covered by a grant from the EU.
Workers on the Tbilisi metro say they will go ahead with a planned strike on June 3 despite a court ban on striking within working hours. Metro workers who currently make GEL1,700 (just under €600) a month are demanding higher wages, saying the amount they receive does not reflect the work they do underground, reports Georgia Today. Members of the Unity 2013 trade union that represents metro workers rallied at Rustaveli metro station on the afternoon of May 22 after Tbilisi City Court made the ruling that metro workers may not strike during working hours. This is the third time the court has issued such a ban. The court stressed the importance of the metro, which handles around 400,000 passengers a day, to Tbilisi’s transport system, claiming that suspension of metro services would “result in collapse of road traffic and already crowded infrastructure”. The right to strike “can be restricted for democratic, security or social interests and in order to prevent disorder or crime,” said the c ourt statement .
9.1.3 Construction sector news
The Georgian government will allocate GEL30mn (€10.4mn) to finance infrastructure projects in the capital Tbilisi next year and in 2020.
A government statement didn’t specify which projects would receive funding, but said the funding would provide Tbilisi City Hall “free financial resources which will be spent on the development of sports infrastructure.”
“[The] decision is in line with the prime minister's initiative about promoting a healthy lifestyle in the country,” the May 16 statement added.
“Significant attention in this direction will also be paid to Georgia's regions where the government will implement equally important projects.”
The funding was announced after a meeting between Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze — a former sportsman who played for AC Milan and the Georgian national football team — Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Finance Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze. Tbilisi wants the number of Georgians taking part in sporting activities to double within the next three years, bringing it closer to the level in European countries. Planned steps include taking an inventory of the sports infrastructure throughout Georgia and carrying out a needs analysis within the next month before drawing up an action plan. As well as investing in sporting facilities, the government plans to address social issues to ensure maximum access to such facilities.
38 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com