Government plans to privatise the management of Kyrenia Old Harbour are being challenged by the Kyrenia district of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Yeniduzen reports.
After Kyrenia Old Harbour and the back of the castle were included in the scope of privatisation with the decision of the Council of Ministers, Yeniduzen spoke to the Mayor of Kyrenia, Nidai Güngördü and a number of Kyrenia deputies.
The local party representatives issued a statement saying the following:
“We will not allow you to sell the Girne Ancient Harbour and Castle surroundings to the centres of interest and to profit a certain group through our values.
“As the CTP Kyrenia District, we are following with great concern the privatisation decision of the ‘Girne Ancient Harbour and Behind the Castle’ taken by the illegitimate government. The decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the inclusion of the most valuable regions of Kyrenia, on which we have been carrying an important responsibility as the tourism capital, as the pearl of Cyprus, within the scope of privatisation, has created great concern”.
“Kyrenia Old Harbour and its surroundings were transferred to the Ministry of Tourism in January 2012, by removing Kyrenia Municipality from its jurisdiction, with the decision of the Council of Ministers signed by today’s prime minister as the Minister of Tourism at that time. Concerning the Kyrenia Old Harbour and Kyrenia Castle, rumoured to be privatised on the aforementioned date, the ongoing confusion of authority for more than 10 years and the series of related problems still occupy the agenda.
“ One of the architects of the problems that emerged due to the confusion of authority and that could not be solved for years is the appointed Prime Minister Ünal Üstel. Since Mr. Üstel’s term as the Ministry of Tourism, it fell into ruin due to the problems arising from being attached to his own ministry. Now for the ancient harbour of Kyrenia and its surroundings, the current UBP-DP-YDP ‘Government’, which took the decision to privatise within an uncertain process carried out by tourism minister Fikri Ataoğlu, is in an effort to finalise its mission.
In April 2018, it was reported that Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoğlu announced that invitations for tender to privatise Kyrenia old harbour would be made soon.
Kyrenia municipality has struggled to manage sewage outflow because the existing works in the harbour cannot cope with the increasing population. Complaints of smells in Kyrenia Old Harbour, a major tourist attraction, have not been dealt with.
In June, the municipality was fined for permitting untreated sewage to flow into the sea.
