The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Got Acquainted with the Environmental Work Carried out by RMG in Kazreti
The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Otar Shamugia, together with the Chairperson of the Committee at Parliament of Georgia Maia Bitadze and members of the Committee working group on environmental pollution in the Kvemo Kartli region got acquainted with the work carried out within the framework of RMG environmental program in Kazreti.
The Minister was introduced to the environmental projects and their results in the region.
"Together with representatives of civil society and members of the Committee, we inspected the ongoing work of RMG. While there is still some work to be done, we see progress in many areas. One of the main and important directions of our environmental policy is to enable large enterprises to meet the requirements set by environmental legislation within a reasonable time frame. These enterprises make a significant contribution to the country's economy, they have employed many people, thus their development, taking into account that they do not have a negative impact on the environment is an essential matter.", noted Otar Shamugia.
As a result of the measures taken within the frameworks of the environmental program, RMG Gold did not reveal any irregularities or deficiencies, which, according to the company representatives, is because of a joint effort of the public sector and community groups.
"The list of environmental measures to be implemented based on the directive of the Ministry included up to 100 projects and mitigation measures, such as protection of water, soil, and air. This process goes successfully and is already near completion. Proof of this is the fact that during the inspection of "RMG Gold" this year, no environmental violations were identified. The company continues to introduce international environmental standards and launch new projects.", declared Amiran Kartvelishvili, head of RMG administration.
Guests visited the historical ore quarry and the water treatment facilities. 3 plants were built with the involvement of international experts and will protect the rivers Poladauri, Kazretula, and Mashavera from wastewater generated from enterprises.
"It has been four years since Sakdrisi Committee has been monitoring the company's environmental commitment, and today, we are summarizing their four years of work. I want to stress that we went through a difficult period, however, progress has been made. For instance, in 2022, as a result of our inspection, RMG Gold did not reveal any environmental deficiencies, which is promising. However, there are still some questions and shortcomings in other companies owned by RMG, which we will be able to eliminate. There are many challenges ahead.", noted Nino Burchuladze, a member of the Committee working group on environmental pollution in Kvemo Kartli.
The working group was also introduced to the experimental recultivation project on site, the existing tailings pond and the pumping infrastructure arranged at its base, and the anti-dusting infrastructure set up on the territory of Sakdrisi.
Guests also visited the cultural heritage monument - Abulmugi Persian Bath, which was relocated from the production area of "RMG" in 2021 initiated by the Sakdrisi Committee.