Bodrum needs new status, says mayor
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Doğan News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 20, 2008 00:00
BODRUM - Bodrum's mayor said the popular holiday resort in Muğla should become a metropolitan municipality before the forthcoming local elections.
Mazlum Ağan, mayor of Bodrum from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said the major problems of the peninsula have grown too large to be solved by town municipalities.
"All the municipalities of the Bodrum Peninsula are in conflict with each other over zoning," said Ağan. "To solve the major problems of the peninsula, at least $500 million is required. None of the municipalities has a budget like that."
Ağan said these problems could only be overcome through the area becoming a metropolitan municipality.Mayor Ağan said the number of town municipalities had increased from three to 11 in the last 25 years and they could not handle environment, zoning and structure problems due to each municipality's rapidly growing tourism potential.
Ağan said every municipality had its own plans which created complications from time to time, "We may overcome all of these problems by uniting under the same roof as the Bodrum Metropolitan Municipality. Otherwise it is not possible to solve the 30 to 40 year problems of Bodrum, an area that contains over 200,000 residences and 15,000 businesses."
Bordum’s future
Mahmut Yıldırım, the Bodrum representative of the Turkish Union of Engineers’ and Architects’ Chambers, or TMMOB, said they had been seriously arguing in meetings and panels about the future of the district for nearly six years.
"In a 20 kilometer route, you pass through the borders of five municipalities," said Yıldırım, adding that Bodrum’s primary problems could only be solved by becoming a metropolitan municipality as the town had grown 400 percent over the last decade.
"Otherwise, 11 different garbage dumpsters, 11 different firefighting units, 11 different bus terminals is a waste of funds and means incomplete services," said Yıldırım.
"All the municipalities of the Bodrum Peninsula are in conflict with each other over zoning," said Ağan. "To solve the major problems of the peninsula, at least $500 million is required. None of the municipalities has a budget like that."
Ağan said these problems could only be overcome through the area becoming a metropolitan municipality.Mayor Ağan said the number of town municipalities had increased from three to 11 in the last 25 years and they could not handle environment, zoning and structure problems due to each municipality's rapidly growing tourism potential.
Ağan said every municipality had its own plans which created complications from time to time, "We may overcome all of these problems by uniting under the same roof as the Bodrum Metropolitan Municipality. Otherwise it is not possible to solve the 30 to 40 year problems of Bodrum, an area that contains over 200,000 residences and 15,000 businesses."
Bordum’s future
Mahmut Yıldırım, the Bodrum representative of the Turkish Union of Engineers’ and Architects’ Chambers, or TMMOB, said they had been seriously arguing in meetings and panels about the future of the district for nearly six years.
"In a 20 kilometer route, you pass through the borders of five municipalities," said Yıldırım, adding that Bodrum’s primary problems could only be solved by becoming a metropolitan municipality as the town had grown 400 percent over the last decade.
"Otherwise, 11 different garbage dumpsters, 11 different firefighting units, 11 different bus terminals is a waste of funds and means incomplete services," said Yıldırım.