TI Georgia Urges Mayor's Office to Act More Transparently
18 March, 2010
The mayor's office is showing little ambition to make its
administration costs, spending on implemented projects and details on
contracts with companies it has hired public. In the past, mayor Gigi
Ugulava and his senior staff have claimed they were following
principles of good governance and transparency. Transparency
International Georgia (TI Georgia) urges the mayor's office to fulfill
these promises.
More than two months ago, TI Georgia sent an official Freedom of
Information request to the mayor's office requesting all procurement
and expense-related information about the construction and renovation
of the administration's new building near Saakadze Square. Even after
sending numerous follow-up requests by phone and mail, TI Georgia has
not received any response from the mayor's office. This is a violation
of the Government of Georgia's administrative code that guarantees its
citizens access to public information.
This is not the first case in which the mayor's office has failed to
make requested information publicly available. Other questions by TI
Georgia directed to the administration have similarly been ignored.
Recently, requests for a list of companies operating the newspaper
kiosks in Tbilisi, allegedly managed by a company called White
Distribution, went unanswered as well. TI Georgia is not the only
watchdog organization to be denied access to important information.
Other organizations and independent media outlets have likewise
expressed frustration when requesting information from the mayor's
office.
TI Georgia requested information about the construction and renovation
of the mayor's building as part of a project that would make all its
contracts public and allow citizens, the media and watchdog
organizations to access and analyze the city's use of taxpayer money.
The project is funded by Oxfam-Novib and the UK Georgia Professional
Network. The project is motivated by the large number of unverified
rumors concerning the misuse of public funds, all made worse by the
scarce amount of public information about public expenditures and
administrative costs.
