(Yerkir)–Local residents of the southern Marneuli region of Georgia–on Monday blocked the highway connecting the region to Armenia–causing massive traffic jams that reached from Georgia to 14 kilometers from the Armenian border–the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.
The protesters–mainly local Azerbaijanis–are demanding that electricity be restored to the area–and have threatened to continue barricading the road until they receive electricity.
A spokesman from The Georgian Power Grid Company said that power to 22 regions of the country has been disconnected because of non payment–and that the population of these regions will receive power only after at least 70 percent of past due bills has been paid.