Founded in 1989 the village Erisimedi lying on Alazani river bank is located on just Georgia-Azerbaijan border. After delimitation/demarcation of the state border, the part of the village area may remain in neighbour Azerbaijan’s location area.

However, before then, after 2007 National Agency of Public Registry of Signagi recorded “Signagi, address N/A” in the address field of the IDs issued on Erisimedi inhabitants. 

Except Turkey, Georgia has not any fixed state boundary with any adjacent country. Delimitation/demarcation commissions have been working on this issue since 1994. Though, borders with Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have not been finally placed yet. 

Active negotiations are being carried with Azerbaijan in particular. After having finished demarcation works, the half part of the frontier village Erisimedi will be included in Azerbaijani area. 

This information was leaked from Georgia–Azerbaijan joint boundary committee. Under the information gained from reliable sources, the school, the ambulatory and 30 dwelling houses will remain in Azerbaijani area. 

The village Erisimedi officially belongs to Signagi region. Though, before you get to the village, you have to pass the sentry post of Georgian border guards. “The village is located on a disputed territory and that is why we conduct registration of the people entering the village”. – “ATB-news” was told about it in the MIA Department of State Border Defence of Georgia.  

No comments are made about division of Erisimedi in the MIA Department of State Border Defence of Georgia. “Delimitation in not our business. We defend our borders”, - said the border patrols.  

While speaking with Kakheti informational centre, headmaster of Erisimedi public school - David Tavartkiladze says: school building is in a very grave condition. The walls are cracked and they may fall apart any time. So, both teachers and students creep around on tiptoes, but the floor is so damaged that we would still often fall in the cellar.  

I was offered a new inventory from the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, but the furniture could not be arranged owing to the lack of building space. Both head of Educational Resource Centre of Signagi and governor of the region are in the know of this problem. I was promised they would build a new wooden school building before school year started but then they told me that owing to the lack of money in the budget they postponed the plan of building a new wooden school for the next year.  

There is no even slightest favourable condition, but children should learn even reading and writing after all! We can not undertake any responsibility for children’s safety. When it rains or it is strong wind we have to cease study process and leave the building due to being afraid of the building collapse and getting stuck in it”.  

Taliko Makharadze – primary school teacher of Erisimedi public school said: “We are forbidden to speak but I still have to say that the school building is not safe and how can not it be said? How could not they manage to allocate money for granting our village a small building with some classrooms? 90% students of the school are short-sighted ones. The classrooms are so narrow of the present school building that the distance between the desks and the blackboard is one meter. Majority of the students wear glasses. When we assign a task before them in class, they almost put their heads on the desks and write in such a way.

We would be tolerant if there was only above mentioned problem. But we have neither water nor anything. Medical ambulatory was repaired by means of grant awarded by EU and it is closed now and nobody is allowed to enter there. What would be the use of repair of the ambulatory if there was not a doctor? Why were thousands of laris wasted on?  

The authority cares about us only when the time of election comes. Before May 21 2008 parliamentary election, we were told they would make bore-wells for providing drinking water in case we voted for Nugzar Abulashvili. We were promised to have water after all and not to have any supernatural things and….we agreed. In the village two bore-wells were made. More than GEL 50’000 were allocated. Just as the election ended, both bore-wells collapsed in three days time and we stayed without water again. 

There is a river by the school. There is no water at school and when children are thirsty they drink water directly from the river. We have no other way out. Those people who do not drink water from the river they transport water by a pack animal or by hand from the stream located as far as 12 kilometres from the village.  

It takes the ambulance at least 2 hours to arrive here from Signagi. Some days ago a child had a fever and the doctor was consulting on the phone how we should have make the child come round.

However, worse things happen here. If we managed to go to Signagi from the village we had problems with returning home. The border police located the checkpoint at the village entry and if you forgot to take your passport with you, you would not be allowed to enter the village. Recently, my sister-in-law arrived from Kobuleti to visit me. She was with her niece and the child was not allowed to enter the village and due to not having a passport with them they were nor allowed to cross the border. This place can not be regarded as the border of course!”

The inhabitant of Erisimedi Resan Tsetskhladze says: “I have been living in the village Erisimedi since 2000. We have never had such problems related to the border as we have now. The frontier sentries say that they are standing there in order to defend us. From whom do they defend us? From the people living in Signagi and other parts of Georgia?  

The border does not lie there and why are they standing on that place? If the local population go to Signangi, even inhabitants of the village are asked the passports and are conducted registration as coming back home. Recently, my cousin arrived from Aspindza region to visit me and he was not let in the village because he had no passport with him. Beyond the passing point of the border police the Azerbaijanians have a farm and I made him housed there”.  

Dato Makharadze- an inhabitant of Erisimedi: “Just as the populated area ends, there are more than 100 hectare pastures, but we can not go there or use them. These lands belong to Georgia, though, Azerbaijanian border guards stand there and we can not get close to them. They detain people at once saying we crossed their territory. We used these lands since we settled here and we wonder when such a big area became their property. If our cattle happen to appear on that territory, they even detain cows and take them away.  

“The school is under terrible condition and is about to break down. We have no kindergarten. We have no doctor. We can not keep cattle. We can not arrive in the village without having passports with us and a visitor can not come to our place. What on earth we should stay here? Some families have already left the place and it can perhaps become a large scale process”. 

After 2007, National Agency of Public Registry of Signagi recorded - “Signagi, address N/A” - in the address field of the IDs issued on Erisimedi inhabitants. The reason is that Signagi inhabitants’ homes are not registered.