Drivers stranded at Upper Lars ask for help
Armenian truck drivers still remain stranded at the Upper Lars checkpoint at the Russian-Georgian border. Eighty trucks loaded with food have been stuck at the checkpoint for thirteen days now.
On Saturday, they contacted A1+ to tell that "they are waiting helplessly and in despair and don't know when they will be able to continue the way". Though the checkpoint is widely believed to have closed due to a strong snowfall, the drivers named other unknown reasons behind the delay and asked us to clarify the circumstances.
"The roads became icy after the light snowfall in Kazbek. The officials neither scatter salt no clear the roads off the snow," the drivers said adding that only one company was permitted to pass the border.
Today we received another message from the desperate drivers, which reads as follows, "Dear A1+. What's to become of us? You cannot even imagine how hopeless we are. No one seems to care for us. We are transporting pedigreed cows that have been inside the vehicles for 13 days. We hardly manage to collect grass to feed them. Let them have pity on these poor animals. Snow is expected on Tuesday and if we are unable to drive on today we shall have to stay at the checkpoint for another few days. Please, contact the Transportation Department in Tbilisi and ask them to clean this section of the road for us to be able to get our homes. This uncertainty is unbearable."
We called the department by the phone number given by the drivers. To our question why other vehicles were allowed to pass the border while our vehicles remain stranded at the checkpoint, the department employee Valery Zakaria said it is not within their jurisdiction. Then he said that the roads are impassable in certain sections and light cars are towed out of the snow with chains.
Petros Demirtchyan, Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication, told A+ that the Ministry could not furnish full information since the ‘disputable roads' are outside Armenia and they are unaware of the conflict. Then he said that the vehicles were owned by a private company the Ministry had nothing to do with.
He advised us to address the same question to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry employee tried to clarify the situation at the Upper Lars for a whole day. In the evening, they said ‘they were trying to find out more details.'
Asked whether Armenian Embassy in Georgia was aware of the stranded vehicles and whether they are taking any measures to help them, the MFA employee said similar issues are generally handled by the Consulate. Then he added that none of the drivers had applied to the Armenian representation in Georgia.
