Zurab Melikashvili: "Lands were distributed to over 5,000 families"

"The process of landholders becoming owner of the leased lands is also on in parallel with land distribution," governor of Georgia's Kvemo-Kartli province Zurab Melikashvili told journalists while visiting Azerbaijan’s region of Gazakh.

APA reports that the governor said lands problems have already been solved in most villages.

"Of course, some villages are still facing land problems. However, these will be completely solved after the already started privatization process is over. The main thing is that the people are satisfied with these reforms," Mr. Melikashvili said.

The governor refuted the reports that Azerbaijani secondary schools in Georgia face the danger of being closed, "These reports are absolutely false. Some try to dispatch false information as if Azerbaijani, Greek or other schools in Georgia are closed. These schools will never be closed. Simply, secondary schools in Georgia are made optimal by consolidation of provincial schools with few pupils. For instance, schools in two villages have only five students each .So these schools can be united into one. We have started this process in Georgian schools since last year. However, if there are 20 of 30 kilometers distance between the provincial schools, these schools are not united. Georgia’s state policy aims at providing high quality teaching in villages like in Tbilisi. The hearsays on closing of any schools are nonsense and groundless."

Zurab Melikashvili also said that representatives of non-Georgians, including Azerbaijanis attend classes on administrative management at the education center named after Zurab Jvania.

"This center has held two graduation ceremonies. I appointed an Azerbaijani, leaver of this center, head of finance-economy department of Marneuli region. Our policy is to guarantee all nations living in Georgia to have equal access to education and access to administrative structures," Melikashvili concluded.