tbilisi, march 25, 2003
"We are fighting for our future, not for
oil"
Nongovernmental organisations and public
activists are gathering in front of the local
office of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development in the
Georgian capital today to express their
concerns regarding EBRD involvement in the
construction of the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline.
The protest's main message is "No public
money for human rights abuse, corruption and
environmental destruction", and participants
are carrying signs calling for the project to
respect the environmental, cultural and
socio- economic needs of the country.
Specifically, the grassroots activists are
asking the EBRD not to finance the BTC
project as long it continues to be in
conflict with Georgian law and fails to
include concrete plans for reducing poverty
and increasing democracy in Georgia.
On the environmental front, protesters are
focusing on the fact that the pipeline would
cross sources of drinking water, including
the Borjomi valley, home to a thriving
bottled water industry. "No civilised country
in the world would allow a pipeline to run
through its drinking water protection zones,"
says Manana Kochladze from the CEE Bankwatch
Network, adding, "The drinking water reserves
in the Tsalka region are an alternative water
source for Tbilisi, a city with a population
of more than 1,5 million people, and any oil
spill in Borjomi would leave the local people
without drinking water. To run a pipeline
through those areas is madness."
The protesters also protest that the
Georgian government violated its own
environmental laws in approving the project,
and that EBRD support at this point would
only legitimise these violations. "This sets
a dangerous precedent, " says Nino
Gujaraidze, executive director of Green
Alternative, a Georgian NGO. "A European
institution like the EBRD should promote
democratic practices."
The participants sent a letter to the
EBRD's executive director, calling on the
Bank to complete an independent review of the
pipeline's Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment (ESIA). EBRD funding should be
conditioned on the review's findings and on
improvement of the project's quality through
public consultations according to the EBRD's
best practices.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would run
1750 kilometres from Baku, Azerbaijan, across
Georgia and to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on
the Mediterranean. When completed, the
pipeline is expected to carry roughly one
million barrels per day.
Notes for editors:
Also today, in London 100 campaigners will
build a 150-metre pipeline outside the London
headquarters of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development to protest
against UK taxpayer funding for the proposed
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline
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