Bobokvati residents demand a report from authorities on the fate of land plots

Land plots allocated for investment projects have remained undeveloped for 20 years, residents of the Adjara village of Bobokvati stated at a protest. They demanded that the authorities explain the situation and return the land if the projects are closed.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," residents of the village of Bobokvati in Adjara have repeatedly held protests over land disputes with the authorities. Thus, in November 2022, several dozen villagers at a protest claimed that officials unjustifiably transferred to an investor a plot of land they had owned since the Ottoman Empire.

Residents of Bobokvati held a protest, demanding "clear and understandable answers" from the authorities regarding the transfer of land and the fulfillment of investment obligations, Georgia Online reports.

According to the protesters, in 2006 these plots were transferred to an investor company, which, according to the agreement, was supposed to implement major investment projects in this area.

However, as protesters stated, the projects have not been implemented in the intervening years, and the land remains undeveloped. According to the villagers, if the investor has failed to fulfill its obligations, the state should terminate the contract and return the land, the publication states.

As a reminder, in June 2021, residents of the village of Bobokvati demanded stop the auction for the sale of coastal land. Adjara authorities deemed the villagers' claims unfounded.

The auction did not take place because none of the investors offered the starting price. The authorities promised not to auction off any more plots of land on the coast, but the villagers didn't believe them and began collecting documents to formalize their land ownership.

In September of that year, residents of Bobokvati held a rally demanding the legalization of 28 hectares of land. The protesters claimed that this land was the property of their ancestors, and 150 families in Bobokvati are asking for it to be transferred to them.

These lands were expropriated from our great-grandfathers.

Earlier, residents of Bobokvati told the "Caucasian Knot" that they have land ownership documents, but the registry service refuses to register them.

"We have archival copies [of documents] proving that these lands belonged to our ancestors back in the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, there is a Soviet-era decree stating that these lands were expropriated from our great-grandfathers. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have been trying to register these lands in the state registry, but we are constantly being refused," Efrem said. Mskhaladze.

According to him, in 2005, the farmers were "driven off their land plots" by Interior Ministry officers, but in 2012, after the Georgian Dream party came to power, they returned to farming. "Since then, before every election, we've tried to register these lands," Mskhaladze said.