The Extent Of The Damage
Aghmashenebeli Street
August 30, 2008
6 p.m. local time (2 p.m. GMT)
The port released information today about the economic damage the war has caused. It is functioning at only 35 percent of its capacity and, as a result of less cargo, suffered a $2 million shortfall after the first few days of the war.
According to the port statistics, the bombing inflicted $279,000 worth of damage to equipment and buildings; tenants at the port face a further $100,000 in losses. Channel Energy, a joint Georgian-Turkish oil company, reported it had suffered $1.1 million in damage to its reservoirs.
I went to the city hall, downtown on Aghmashenebeli Street, to meet the deputy mayor. Poti is still a ghost town; even on a Saturday there would normally be people in the municipal buildings, but today it was deserted. It's a relief to be inside the building. Outside it's so hot that even the rain doesn't cool things down.
The deputy mayor told me that the Turkish Black Sea city of Trabzon has sent aid to Poti's citizens -- 25 tons of pasta. He said the local authorities didn't know yet whether to give everyone a little bit, or to concentrate on those citizens who had fled the conflict.