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Georgia Environmental Issues
Beginning in the 1980s, Black Sea pollution has greatly
harmed Georgia's tourist industry. Inadequate sewage treatment is
the main cause of that condition. In Batumi, for example, only 18
percent of wastewater is treated before release into the sea. An
estimated 70 percent of surface water contains health-endangering
bacteria to which Georgia's high rate of intestinal disease is
attributed.
The war in Abkhazia did substantial damage to the ecological
habitats unique to that region. In other respects, experts
considered Georgia's environmental problems less serious than
those of more industrialized former Soviet republics. Solving
Georgia's environmental problems was not a high priority of the
national government in the post-Soviet years, however; in 1993
the minister for protection of the environment resigned to
protest this inactivity. In January 1994, the Cabinet of
Ministers announced a new, interdepartmental environmental
monitoring system to centralize separate programs under the
direction of the Ministry of Protection of the Environment. The
system would include a central environmental and information and
research agency. The Green Party used its small contingent in the
parliament to press environmental issues in 1993.
Data as of March 1994
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