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CHP Bursa Mayor Bozbey on 'SSI debt' comments: 'They won't be able to collect trash or pay salaries'

CHP Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey has weighed in on the issue of social security premium debts of CHP-run municipalities, which has remained on the agenda following statements by AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan and subsequent exchanges.

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In his remarks on tv100 regarding the municipalities' Social Security Institution (SSI) debts, Bozbey stated that if the debts were collected, they would be unable to pay salaries.

Bozbey said, "If the debts are collected, let alone collecting trash or watering green spaces, believe me, the municipalities will reach a point where they cannot even pay their own personnel's salaries."

Connecting to the Taksim Meydanı program hosted by Gürkan Hacır, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey responded to Hacır's question, "How much debt do you have as a metropolitan municipality?" by saying, "As of March 31, our debt to the SSI, including both the municipality and its subsidiaries, is 2 billion 368 million, and our tax debt is 2 billion 165 million, making our total tax and insurance debt 4 billion 533 million. These are just the SSI and tax debts. As of March 31, our total debt is around 30 billion TL."

"WE ARE IMPLEMENTING A FISCAL DISCIPLINE POLICY"

Continuing his remarks, Bozbey said, "We will both reduce the debt and provide the services needed for the people of Bursa to smile; that is our approach. That is why we are implementing a fiscal discipline policy regarding both the debts and the work we will undertake, while also working to increase the quality of the work and reduce the costs of the projects being carried out."

"SOME MUNICIPALITIES WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO COLLECT TRASH"

In response to Hacır's comment, "Mr. Bozbey, you are saying 'If they try to collect all our debts, we cannot pay salaries,' and you are proposing a restructuring," Bozbey said, "We held a meeting in Tekirdağ on July 17, where AKP-run municipalities were also present.

We made a joint decision, saying that complaints from municipalities are being forwarded to us. There are around 207 municipalities in the Marmara region, and as the President of the Marmara Municipalities Union, I represent the Marmara municipalities. We said that in this environment, where the economy is performing so poorly and the share from the Iller Bank has also fallen, our municipalities will face great difficulties due to their SSI and tax debts.

Therefore, we prepared a text and submitted it to the ministry, saying that both SSI and tax restructuring should be carried out as soon as possible. If the debts are collected, the municipalities will reach a point where, let alone collecting trash or watering green spaces, believe me, they will not even be able to pay their own personnel's salaries," he said.