İmamoğlu's metro reaction to the Ministry of Transport: 'Let this be a lesson'

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is making statements at the Accessible Istanbul Project Presentation.

KANAL İSTANBUL

Starting his speech with the Kanal Istanbul Project, İmamoğlu said, "They are trying to impose a project that has become a tragedy for Istanbul, called Kanal Istanbul, which will bring a burden of 3-3.5 million more people to the city. We are facing such a situation."

ISTANBUL TRAFFIC

Making a statement regarding Istanbul's traffic density, İmamoğlu said, "According to international indices in 2019, Istanbul had the heaviest traffic in Europe. When you look at the same index, we see that Istanbul has regressed to 34th place in traffic density in 2023. We are talking about this with statistics and international measurements in the world. With our public transportation strengthened by our metro lines to be opened in the near future, we will continue to rapidly reduce traffic density even further."

"METRO CONSTRUCTIONS WERE AT THE 1-4 PERCENT LEVEL"

Providing information about the previous term's metro lines, İmamoğlu stated, "When we took office, the constructions of the metros they said they were finishing were largely at the 1 to 4 percent level. They didn't even have construction sites yet. There were no implementation projects. Half of the lines they advertised as having opened were not even completed."

'BROKEN BUS' STUNT

Drawing attention to the transportation stunts directed at the IMM, İmamoğlu said, "I see the productions of today, which try to set up traps against us through transportation, showing buses as if they are burning, and filming movies on the side of the road, as having failed compared to the productions of that day."

"The most difficult test for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayors is the metro test," said İmamoğlu, adding, "Mayors who cannot pass the metro test fail even if they pass all other subjects. Because the metro and rail systems are the most urgent solution to Istanbul's transportation problem. If you cannot build metros sufficiently and quickly, it means you are doing something very wrong."

REFERENCE TO ERDOĞAN'S SERVICE THREAT

Reminding that the Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli Metro will open on March 16 and referring to the service threat made by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İmamoğlu said the following:

"We are building the metro line extending to Sultanbeyli, where we received the fewest votes in Istanbul. It is one of the metros that was at the 4 percent level, and for which we found resources and started immediately upon taking office. Despite the pandemic and despite Turkey's most difficult period in terms of borrowing, it is a job we achieved sometimes from our own capital and sometimes by finding resources."

"LET THIS BE A LESSON TO THE MINISTRY"

İmamoğlu also reacted to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and said the following:

"Do you know how long they have been deducting the entire cost of the line to Sabiha Gökçen Airport, which was paid by the ministry to the contractor in 7 years, from the IMM's share from the Treasury? A figure of over 5 billion, in 10 months. We are facing a government that sees this as a skill and chases after small calculations. The deduction of the money for the lines that the ministry built and transferred to the IMM before us took 16-17 years, while for us it is 10 months. This is how the share of the rail system in public transportation should be calculated with the lines we have opened. We say 10 metros, but Kayaşehir-Başakşehir is the same; it is actually our right to say we did 12 because they took the money in cash and approved it. In a way, the ministry has fallen into the position of a subcontractor to the IMM, which considers getting the money in advance a skill. Let this be a lesson to the ministry."

News Source: 12punto