Tbilisi Mayor defends emergency housing policy after deadly building collapse

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has expressed condolences to the families of two people killed in the collapse of a residential building on Tevdore Mghvdli Street on Monday, while defending his administration’s emergency housing policy amid growing public criticism.

Speaking to reporters following the incident, Kaladze acknowledged the tragedy and reiterated that the city has had a building replacement program in place since 2021 to address structurally unsafe housing. He urged residents to participate more actively in the programme, which he said aims to relocate families from hazardous buildings into newly constructed homes.

“There was an accident, and two people died - this is very sad. Once again, I express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” Kaladze said. “The building had been classified as having the third degree of emergency - I mistakenly referred to it as fifth yesterday. But that distinction is irrelevant. The reality is that people continued to live there despite repeated meetings and discussions with the municipality.”

Kaladze stressed that the city's programme is focused on replacing - not reinforcing - dangerous buildings, but acknowledged the process faces significant hurdles, including a lack of unanimous consent from residents.

“In some cases, people who live in 50-square-meter apartments demand larger ones in return. This is simply not feasible for the municipality,” he said. “We offer temporary relocation and rental assistance, and later return them to newly constructed buildings. But we need public cooperation.”

Kaladze also pushed back against claims that the collapsed building had recently undergone cosmetic repairs.

“There has been misinformation - someone said the building was painted two years ago. That’s a lie. In fact, reinforcement work was carried out back in 2017, during Mayor Davit Narmania’s administration. But reinforcement is not the solution - replacement is,” he added.

The fatal collapse has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, including Gakharia for Georgia, which accused the city government of negligence and launched a social media campaign highlighting dangerous buildings across the capital.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation under Article 240 of the Criminal Code, which addresses violations of safety regulations in construction and building maintenance. One person remains hospitalized following the incident.