Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Hamit Bakirci, has said that the sea phase of the Turkish water project is about to be completed and that the land phase of the project will be completed in December this year.
Speaking to BRT about his assessment of the project, Bakirci said that everything was progressing well and that the water will arrive on the island in December. “By the end of 2015 the water will reach homes throughout all of the TRNC“, said the minister and added that the piping to Nicosia had been completed. “Once this is finished we will move on to the pipe installations from Kyrenia to Tatlisu and then to Famagusta and Iskele”, said Bakirci.
He said that the committees overseeing the distribution of the water were continuing with their work, adding that the law regulating how the water is going to be administered has also been prepared and would be presented to Parliament as soon as possible. “We as the state want to manage the water but technically we do not have a fully equipped department”, Bakirci admitted.
He noted that although the water is coming to the country at no charge there will be a price to pay as 25 megawatts of energy is needed to pump and distribute the water. “We are still working on how much the water will cost the people”, Bakirci said.
