Minister Özhaseki announces: 'Loan obtained from the World Bank will be used for Hatay'

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki visited Hatay. Minister Özhaseki first visited the Hatay Governorship, and then arrived at the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality, located on the EXPO campus in the Antakya district. 

HE TOUCHED UPON THE YSK'S DECISION

Minister Özhaseki made statements to members of the press after his visit to the municipality. Wishing that the decision taken by the YSK (Supreme Election Council) would be auspicious, he used the following expressions:

“Today, I once again wish that these decisions taken for our Hatay, with the decision we received from the Supreme Election Council, will be auspicious. May God not let us be embarrassed; from now on, of course, it is a period of service. The elders used to say; the election ends, the livelihood begins. Yes, we are now in the days when the best of this livelihood will be made. Embracing everyone, healing the wounds, we will all do whatever we can together to return Hatay to its former glorious days in the coming days. We are in the effort for this.  Hatay was our city that suffered the most damage in the earthquake. Everyone knows this. Around 254 thousand of our residences were destroyed. And about 55 thousand of our workplaces. So, when viewed as independent units, around 310 thousand residences and workplaces were destroyed in our Hatay. It is a tremendous pain. This is not easy. We also laid thousands of our brothers and sisters to rest. May God have mercy on them. May God grant health and well-being to those who remain. It falls to us to overcome this damage. To heal the wounds as soon as possible. To turn this disaster, which we see as the disaster of the century, into the solidarity of the century. That is why we are working day and night. On one hand, of course, we as the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change are in Hatay with our entire team. We are in our other earthquake zones. But it is also worth saying this to give credit where it is due. Our Ministry of Health is here, our Ministry of Culture and Tourism, our Ministry of Family and Social Services, our Ministry of National Education, our Ministry of Transport are here with all their teams. They are also doing their best. We are carrying out this work together in solidarity, doing whatever falls to them. Now, hopefully, with the support of our municipality, we will continue to heal the wounds much faster” 

WORLD BANK FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF HATAY

Minister Özhaseki stated that they would use the 14.2 billion TL loan they obtained from the World Bank for the construction of Hatay, saying, “We have a special loan we obtained from the World Bank, we will use exactly 14.2 billion TL for Hatay. Our projects are ready, we will go out to tender in the coming days. Hopefully, the strongest firms will take them, and we will act quickly as we want and finish them as soon as possible. On one hand, we will renew all of the water networks. Hopefully, as these constructions are finished in the coming days, we will continue to distribute them to the rightful owners. We will probably distribute a few thousand residences in Hatay every month. When our citizens there start to settle in normally, life will also start to normalize. Our entire plan and program is to finish and deliver both the homes and workplaces of all rightful owners in Hatay by the middle or autumn of next year. This does not mean this. It does not mean that we will deliver all the homes then. There are already thousands of residences we are delivering now. We will continue to give residences every month. But the right of the last rightful owner will perhaps extend towards the end or middle of next year, which is also very normal” he said.