Local self-government authorities of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region communicate with public through their websites ineffectively.

Monitoring has revealed that the public information posted on the official websites of the local authorities (Abasha, Senaki, Martvili, Khobi, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Chkhorotsku and Poti) is insufficient.

At the initial stage, categories of information were identified, posting and constant update of which is significant for ensuring the municipality's transparency:

The Budget and the Document of Priorities

• Apart from the Martvili and Zugdidi Municipality Gamgeobas, none of the municipality Gamgeobas of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti have posted on their websites the approved budget, document of priorities and the explanatory note, which set forth the key areas of activities of a self-government unit and the expenses of planned events.
• Situation is the same in Sakrebulos - none of them have published the approved budget, document of priorities and the explanatory note. The Zugdidi, Poti, Khobi, Martvili, Chkhorotsku and Tsalenjikha Sakrebulos have posted only the drafts of these documents.

Statute/Regulations of Gamgeoba and Sakrebulo

• The statute of the Gamgeoba and Sakrebulo, which defines the scope of their activities and gives citizens a possibility of becoming aware of the key powers of this or that agency, must be posted on the official websites of these agencies. The statutes are posted by all Gamgeobas save the Senaki and Zugdidi Municipality Gamgeobas.
• Only the Tsalenjikha, Poti and Khobi Sakrebulos provide the Sakrebulo Regulations on their websites, as well as the charters of the sakrebulo's permanent commissions.

Social Programs

• Whilst 10.36% of the total number of socially unprotected live in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, the website of the Zugdidi Municipality Gamgeoba is the only one to post information about ongoing social programs in the Municipality.
• None of the Sakrebulos has posted information on the social programs.

This kind of information must at least include: types of social programs implemented in the municipality; amount of funds allocated to each program; who is eligible to become a beneficiary of this or that social program; concrete criteria/methods by which the beneficiaries of a specific social program are selected.

Information on the Sakrebulo Sittings

• Notwithstanding the legislative requirements, information on the date of the Sakrebulo sittings is not posted 5 days in advance. The Sakrebulos of the self-governing city Poti and the Tsalenjikha, Khobi and Zugdidi Municipalities post the information on the planned sittings of the Sakrebulo, but only a day earlier. As for the information on the held sittings, it is posted on the websites of all Municipality Sakrebulos.

The executive authority of a local self-government unit (Gamgeoba/City Hall) does not convene the Sakrebulo-type sittings.

Vacancies

• Only the Mestia Municipality Gamgeoba and Sakrebulo have posted in recent months the information on the vacancies available in the Gamgeoba and Sakrebulo offices.

Biographies of the Officials

• Website of the Khobi Gamgeoba posts the bios of all officials, while the website of the Zugdidi Municipality Gamgeoba does not provide bios of any of them. In case of the Mestia Gamgeoba, the website provides bios of the Gamgebeli Deputies, and the Poti City Hall and the Abasha, Tsalenjikha, Martvili, Senaki and Chkhorotsku Gamgeobas post the bios of only the Mayor/Gamgebeli and the Mayor/Gamgebeli Deputies.
• In Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, the websites of all Municipality Sakrebulos post the bios of the officials.

Publicizing of this information is important inasmuch as citizens must be able to get familiar with the biographic data of the officials and understand the extent to which the position held by the official matches his/her experience.

Under the present analysis, website of the Khobi Municipality Gamgeoba is the most transparent among the executive authorities (Gamgeoba/City Hall) of local self-government units of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region, while the website of the Khobi an Tsalenjikha Municipality Sakrebulos tops the Sakrebulo rankings.

Yet, it is clear that the local authorities in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti do not use Internet as an effective tool for communicating with the public, business sector and media. Electronic governance is one of the key principles for the democratic society, which by itself increases the transparency of activities of public institutions and promotes citizen participation in the activities of the local self-government authorities.

Data of Websites of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Local Authorities as of 4 April 2013

Gamgeoba/City Hall 

Sakrebulo