Job offers fail to convince villagers
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Doğan News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 18, 2009 00:00
YATAĞAN, Muğla - Locals and environmentalists have reacted harshly to plans for a second power plant in Muğla’s Yatağan district, despite the argument that it will create jobs for the region.
A meeting organized Tuesday night to inform locals about the Environmental Effect Evaluation, or ÇED, became a platform for more than 100 locals and environmentalists to raise their voices against the project.
Ant Energy Ltd. is planning to build a 320-megawatt power plant in Yatağan’s Kırık village. The town has had major problems with its current power plant, which had to stop production various times for causing pollution.
Selahattin Hacıömeroğlu, general manager of Çınar Engineering, which prepared the ÇED report, said the new plant would create 700 jobs. Villagers reacted harshly when a group of shop owners backed him, arguing the region needed new jobs. There was a small brawl between the two sides, and the protesters were still unconvinced.
’Tell the truth’
"What good are jobs if one doesn’t have his health," asked Hidayet Aykurt, an 18-year-old asthma patient who was wearing a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. "I am a high school graduate, I don’t have a job, but I don’t know how long I will live. Do not try to deceive people with good words. Tell us the truth."
Tayyibe Demirel, a 55-year-old villager, accused state officials and the general manager of the firm that plans to build the plant of "telling lies."
"The first power plant has been poisoning the people for years," she said. "No tobacco is left on our lands, no olives are left on our trees. Every house around has an asthma or cancer patient. Don’t tell lies any more, leave here immediately."
Environmentalists
support villagers
Environmentalists agreed with the local villagers that the town must not have a second power plant. Nuray Şahbudak, spokesperson for Yatağan Environmental Protection Platform, or YAÇEV, said the ÇED report was "a disaster."
"A ÇED report should include the effects on the health of the locals, and the effects on the local produce," she said. "But the report does not once mention tobacco or olive. One must not dream about a second power plant in Yatağan, let alone organizing a meeting like this. We will do everything to stop this plan."
The meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, ended when only 12 people were left in the room.
Speaking after the meeting, Bilge Contepe, the co-leader of Turkey’s Greens, argued that European energy companies wanted Turkey to build more power plants because they could not anymore.
"Power plants are one of the main forces of climate change, which is why European countries are giving them up," she said. "We will not let one be built here, and we will pursue every legal process to stop it."
Ant Energy Ltd. is planning to build a 320-megawatt power plant in Yatağan’s Kırık village. The town has had major problems with its current power plant, which had to stop production various times for causing pollution.
Selahattin Hacıömeroğlu, general manager of Çınar Engineering, which prepared the ÇED report, said the new plant would create 700 jobs. Villagers reacted harshly when a group of shop owners backed him, arguing the region needed new jobs. There was a small brawl between the two sides, and the protesters were still unconvinced.
’Tell the truth’
"What good are jobs if one doesn’t have his health," asked Hidayet Aykurt, an 18-year-old asthma patient who was wearing a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. "I am a high school graduate, I don’t have a job, but I don’t know how long I will live. Do not try to deceive people with good words. Tell us the truth."
Tayyibe Demirel, a 55-year-old villager, accused state officials and the general manager of the firm that plans to build the plant of "telling lies."
"The first power plant has been poisoning the people for years," she said. "No tobacco is left on our lands, no olives are left on our trees. Every house around has an asthma or cancer patient. Don’t tell lies any more, leave here immediately."
Environmentalists
support villagers
Environmentalists agreed with the local villagers that the town must not have a second power plant. Nuray Şahbudak, spokesperson for Yatağan Environmental Protection Platform, or YAÇEV, said the ÇED report was "a disaster."
"A ÇED report should include the effects on the health of the locals, and the effects on the local produce," she said. "But the report does not once mention tobacco or olive. One must not dream about a second power plant in Yatağan, let alone organizing a meeting like this. We will do everything to stop this plan."
The meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, ended when only 12 people were left in the room.
Speaking after the meeting, Bilge Contepe, the co-leader of Turkey’s Greens, argued that European energy companies wanted Turkey to build more power plants because they could not anymore.
"Power plants are one of the main forces of climate change, which is why European countries are giving them up," she said. "We will not let one be built here, and we will pursue every legal process to stop it."