The Minister of Public Works and Communications Tolga Atakan has said that the calculations made over the average amount of rainfall recorded over the past 40 years did not reflect current climate conditions.
Evaluating the reports prepared by the Chamber of the Union of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects, Atakan told BRT that future projects will be carried out on the basis of new technical calculations and not on past methods.
He also said that no infrastructure would have been able to cope with the recent amount of rainfall in the country.
Atakan said that the average amount of rainfall recorded over the past 50 years had been taken into account when the project for the Ciklos bend on the Nicosia-Kyrenia mountain road was prepared.
“The latest amount of rainfall has revealed that these figures no longer apply nor cannot be taken as a basis”, he added.
Stating that he had found the opportunity to examine the reports prepared by the Chamber of the Union of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects before it had been made public, Atakan said that the filling of stream beds since the 1980s and the construction of a second lane on the Ciklos bend had contributed to making the scale of the disaster worse.
He said that the findings of the reports corresponded with their own surveys and added that work will be launched to address all problematic areas.
The Public Works Minister also pointed out that comprehensive work was required to prevent problems arising from construction in stream beds and environmental pollution.
Explaining that the segment of the road linking Nicosia with Kyrenia was constructed by a Turkish company financed by the Turkish Department of Road Works, Atakan said that work on the road had started shortly after he had assumed office.
He said that the work on the road had been supervised together by the TRNC Department of Road Works and the Turkish Department of Road Works.
“The engineer responsible for the construction project has been contacted and an investigation is currently underway”, he added.
BRT