Zestafoni, Georgia: The Zestafoni Municipality has initiated a Village Support Program to improve the local infrastructure and living conditions of the rural population. The program aims to involve the villagers in decision-making and allocate funds for the priority projects they identified.
The program was launched on January 24, 2023, with the first general population meetings held in the villages of Shroshi and Ilem. The meetings were attended by the Mayor of Zestafoni, Vasil Gvelesiani, and the Chairman of the City Council, Vakhtang Gambashidze, who listened to the villagers’ needs and suggestions and explained the program’s details.
Among the priority projects, the villagers named the arrangement of passages and gabions, the purchase of concrete and the installation of outdoor lights. These projects are expected to enhance the accessibility, safety and aesthetics of the villages.
The general meetings will continue until February 2, 2023, covering all 60 villages in the administrative units of Zestafoni Municipality. The municipality has allocated 832 000 Gel for the program’s implementation, which will be distributed according to the population size and the project costs of each village.
The Village Support Program is a part of the Georgian government’s regional development strategy, which aims to empower rural communities and reduce the urban-rural gap. According to the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, the program is designed to improve the rural population’s quality of life, social cohesion and economic opportunities.
Zestafoni municipality
Zestafoni is a district of Georgia in the region of Imereti. The district covers a total area of 423 square kilometres, and as of 2002, it had a population total of 76,208 people. Its main town is Zestafoni, an important industrial centre with a sizeable ferro-alloy plant processing manganese ore from nearby Chiatura.
The Zestafoni ferroalloy plant processes raw manganese ore shipped by rail down the Kvirila valley from Chiatura, supplying 6% of world demand. It is the largest ferroalloy plant in the country. There were more factories in the Soviet era, but many have closed.
