Organization the “Young Barristers” demand implementation of new legal regulations and transparency of funds received from damaged and malfunctioning elevators in high rise buildings.
According to statements of lawyer at the “Young Barristers” – Ana Baratashvili, the decision of Tbilisi City Council dated on December 27th 2010 stipulates, that Tbilisi district administrations in cooperation with household owners shall provide reconstruction of damaged and malfunctioning elevators. The reconstruction is carried out by companies chosen by the households under persons closely related to Tbilisi City Hall and transparency of funds received from the “elevators case” has signs of corruption.
According to evaluations of the “Young Barristers”, up to 1 635 800 GEL were spent from Tbilisi budget for reconstruction of high rise building elevators in 2013; In addition to this, 30 000 000 GEL has been considered in order to develop households in 2014. The organization also states, that up to 51 independent entrepreneurs and 66 LTDs are included in the process of reconstructing damaged and malfunctioning elevators in the capital and co-financing will be carried in accordance with presented statements of the households.
According to statements of the “Young Barristers”, issue of restoring damaged and malfunctioning elevators in Tbilisi may be having signs of corruption. Groups who are responsible to ensure proper operation of elevators in high rise buildings, are factually inactive. In precise, list of problematic issues is unchanged:
- The above mentioned companies practically rob the society with malfunctioning elevators, since society has been complaining on “swallowed” 5 and 10 cents;
- It costs up to 20-30 cents a day to use an elevator to one citizen, which makes up to 25-30 GEL a month for a family with 2-3 members;
- Elevators are often broken down and rescue service is called. Damaged elevators are a threat to human life and health and none of the companies are responsible for any accidents;
- None of the companies are issued licenses or permits, thus households are loyal towards the problem;
The “Young Barristers” address Tbilisi City Hall and Tbilisi City Council for further transparency of reconstruction issue of damaged and malfunctioned elevators and request creation of new legal regulations in order to control decisions of households concerning companies which will be included in the process of reconstruction and selected objectively. Currently, the companies may be avoiding tax payments as well, since no control mechanism exists concerning what income they possess; in addition to this, it is unknown how many times a week do elevator boxes fill up, how much is the income and whether tax is paid to the state budget accordingly or not.
The “Young Barristers” address Tbilisi Mayoral candidates of 2014 self-government elections and ask for support two initiatives of the organization:
It is obligatory to create licenses and permits for companies, which provide proper work of elevators. The companies must be requested a health and life insurance, which will decrease possibility of fatal results as well.
Just like the European experience, a new system of elevators system must be provided in Tbilisi. In precise, the society must be given possibility to pay a transportation fee with a card. A system like this is more convenient for society and will help to solve the problem.
