Gürcafer: “We set off together but got sold down the road”

• “FOR OUR COUNTRY, FOR OUR SOCIAL BEING, WE NOW NEED TO BE SELF CRITICAL, FORGIVE EACH OTHER, AND BE UNITED”

Cafer Gürcafer, President of the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors Association (CTBCA), commented on how the Famagusta-Iskele-New Boğaziçi ordinance was abolished by the decision of the Council of Ministers and that decision was cancelled by a court order the next day.

Gürcafer stated that there is a serious degree of misinformation about the Famagusta-Iskele-New Boğaziçi Zoning Plan and that the people are split on this issue.

Gürcafer stated, I always say; there are those who benefit from the division of the society, those who have indexed their lives to it and thus drive a division in a society. That’s what happened in this case. The people were divided into two camps, but neither side possess the right information,” he said, and explained the course the events took.

Answering Ali Baturay’s questions in the “Markaj” program broadcast on Haber Kıbrıs Web TV, Cafer Gürcafer also clarified the criticism about ‘our lands are becoming estranged’.

Gürcafer also made very important statements about the Kyrenia Hospital tender, which has been on the agenda for some time.

“THERE IS A WILLINGNESS TO DIVIDE THE SOCIETY”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer, about the Famagusta-Iskele-New Boğaziçi Zoning Plan in the community; he said that the intention by some is to create the perception that “someone wants to build unlimited skyscrapers in forests, wetlands, protected areas and on the seaside, sell them atrociously and make money, but these people want to oppose them and they are putting up a struggle, and our judiciary is on their side.”

Gürcafer once again underlined how much importance the CTBCA attaches to the social life of the Turkish Cypriot community and discussed the process.

Cafer Gürcafer said, “We need an economy to maintain the social life of the Turkish Cypriot community and to monitor and protect it until a final solution is registered with the UN. This should not be an economy that is run on inadequate means. It is imperative that we have an economy that stands on its own feet. The reason for us not being able to do this is actually lack of planning. We need to set up a planned existence, and the first thing we need to do is to complete the zoning plans,” he said.

Stating that this planning process should cover the country from one end to the other, CTBCA President Gürcafer said, “If we make our zoning plans; it will form the basis of our social and economic life. We would also do what we need in order to move to a planned economy,” he said.

“WE DECIDED TOGETHER AND WE SET OFF”

Gürcafer continued:

“In this context we said; ‘let’s bring together the mayors of Famagusta, İskele and Yeni Boğaziçi, discuss this with them separately, and explain our vision. Then we said, ‘let’s meet with Union of the Chambers of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects (UCCTEA) and then with the city planners’, and we did and we talked. We said, ‘Let’s create an integrated socio-economic structure that is internally coherent’. We had these meetings, then we held a workshop. Our aim and goal; to make a plan that covers the country from one end to the other. Contractors want a plan as they need to be able to see what lies ahead. ‘The ordinance may be modified in a day’s notice. It ought not be like that’. We discussed ‘Let’s move to a planned life, let’s ensure the participation of the public as much as possible’, we all made a decision together, and set off.

“The following situation arose in the process: The City Planning Department cannot handle this plan with its current structure, it does not have sufficient personnel. Their stance was, ‘we could pay for this work, let us only be the party that supplies funding. All the agricultural engineers, economists, architects, engineers and scientists of this country should come together. Let us create a serious army of minds. Let us provide the money needed for this and develop our own plan. In fact, that was our plan for setting off.”

“AN ORDINANCE WAS ISSUED AT A STROKE, PEOPLE REBELLED”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer noted that while these works were being carried out, an ordinance was issued and they were not made aware of it. Explaining that people rebelled against this ordinance, Gürcafer said that they held a meeting in Famagusta attended by nearly 200 people, and subsequently moved to meet with the government.

Cafer Gürcafer, who stated that after a certain period during the meetings with the government they concurred on the content of the ordinance, further explained that an agreement was reached on how the zoning plan would be made, how many people would be employed, that these people would be paid by the CTBCA, and a definition was developed regarding the vested rights.

“WE WERE OFFICIALLY DECEIVED”

Gürcafer said that there was only one article in the content of the ordinance and that they were officially deceived by this article.

Cafer Gürcafer conveyed matters as:

“We’ve been duped. We think we’ve been deceived. We are not city planners. We are a party that contributed to the preparation of a zoning plan for the first time.

What are these vested rights? You bought some land, you engaged an architect to draw the project, you intend build two houses for your children. It caught you halfway. Vested right; vested right is to complete the process you are in within a certain period. The vested right emerged during the Annan Plan period. As it will be remembered, a moratorium was to be prepared at that time.  This issue was discussed between the leaders of the two communities and it got escalated as far as the UN. At the time it was said that ‘projects that have progressed through the visa office are vested rights and therefore their construction will continue’. This practice was followed in all ordinances after that. In this case too, we said ‘get vested rights, then we will make a plan. We also said, ‘we will complete such a plan in one year. However, they only set a period of three months’ duration for these vested rights. We objected to this. We pointed out that ‘a file from government offices does not come out in 7-8 months’. Their response was ‘when the three-month period expires, we will extend it for another three months’.

When that day came and we requested an extension, the city planners went to court. They argued that ‘the extension is in an amendment of the ordinance. They said, ‘the ordinance cannot be amended without a public meeting,’ and they received an interim order. Then they came out and said to the people, ‘they are polluting our seas, destroying our forests and erecting skyscrapers. We went and stopped them’. What do we gain by exploiting the emotions of the people we tricked into applauding us, just in the name of populism.!?”

“TO WHOM IS THIS ANGER FOR?”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer also clarified the pronouncements on the ‘constructions are illegal’ issue. Making crucial statements on the subject, Gürcafer said:

“On the one hand, the Constitution; it declares, ‘When an application is made to the State, the State has to respond to you in one month’, but on the other hand, you submit an application for a construction permit, the State completes the process for you in 2.5 years. As this is the case, construction commences after the initial stage. Initial stage; you buy the land, you go and pay your tax to the state, you take over the land at the Land Registry Office. You call an architect registered with UCCTEA and she/he drafts the project for you. The architect draws this draft in consultation with the City Planning Department and in accordance with the zoning regulation of that region. Subsequent to that, she/he has her own visa office, where she/he has it validated and approved.  Often, errors are detected and several times the draft goes forwards and backwards between them. Then she/he hands it over to a UCCTEA registered engineer to do the static calculations as per the regulation regarding an earthquake. the static aspect of the project is drawn in accordance with legislation of the country. Then she/he takes it to the Chamber and obtains a visa. Then the electrical engineer registered with UCCTEA enters into the fray. She/he also obtains a visa from the visa office of UCCTEA. Then the environmental engineer registered with UCCTEA comes into play for the Environmental Impact Assessment report (EIA). After all this is done, you (within the framework of the rules set by science in your country), have drawn your project according to the country’s legislation and you head to the municipality and apply for a license. At that stage, the construction begins as the license application process as per the legislation will take a long time. During that time, the municipality sends these documents to the Environment Department. The Environment Department approves this after 7-8 months. Then it goes to the Planning and Construction Department, then to the Electricity Department, the Telecommunications Department, the Fire Department and the High Council for Monuments, the Agriculture Department and the Department of Antiquities and Museums. Opinions are received from all these departments, and all the while, the application remains at the municipality during this process. The contractor goes to the municipality to pay the due fee, which is the last step. You on the other hand go to the court and say, ‘This is a change in contravention of the ordinance since 3 months have passed and claim, ‘We didn’t hold a public meeting,’ and you got a warrant and you declared the man a fugitive. Then you scream blue murder. What will you gain by doing this? What will you get when you harm this country, this society, the contractor companies and the sector you break bread with? To whom is this anger for?”

“SMALL FIEFDOMS WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE COUNTRY, AND ADHERENTS CREATED”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer stated that small fiefdoms were established in the country and adherents were created, and these people fed off the applause of those adherents.

Gürcafer stated that this situation will drag the society into a quagmire, and that our social existence cannot be sustained by these attitudes or by public insults on social media, by dividing the public, by forming a status quo and feeding off this status quo. He stated that based on this, he had issued an invitation, ‘come, let’s go on TV for 5-6 hours and answer any questions left unanswered ‘, but this invitation was not taken up in a positive way.

CTBCA President Gürcafer, in his statement on revisiting Chapter 96, said:

“The same section claimed, ‘Illegal constructions were undertaken in Iskele, and you turned a blind eye to it’. The suffering we went through in order to break into the Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Russian markets…! The things we experienced…! What will happen if these dwellings are not sold? This construction sector feeds 70 sub-sectors. Tens of thousands of people feed off this sector. These constructions continue and foreign agencies have started to question us now, lawyers have stepped in regarding cancellations, this will bring terrible ruin. I went and knocked on the door of the UCCTEA. I said, ‘We need to solve this problem,’ and we came together. ‘We have a social responsibility. Because of our disagreement, we are harming the country’s economy. Let’s come to an agreement,’ we said. They said, ‘Let’s see,’ and then they sent me a message stating that they would not meet. Our hand was forced. There was no other way to pave the way for this. The country stood to lose billions of liras.”

“THEY DECLARED THEMSELVES AS SOVEREIGN”

Summarizing the process in this way, CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer said that they made serious efforts to secure their professional rights while drafting the Zoning Law No. 55/89, but they missed the point, aimed too high and they declared themselves as sovereign.

Noting that within the law in question, it states that ‘in this country, city planners working in the City Planning Department and registered with the City Planning Chamber can make any kind of ordinance, plan’, Gürcafer added, “we said, ‘this Zoning Law needs to be changed and a zoning supreme council should be formed, which is composed of wise people who represent all segments of the society and could contribute’. In response, they made an almighty fuss”.

Gürcafer pointed out that CTBCA has an institutional structure and underlined that when it wants something or puts its foot forward about an issue, it searches for examples in the world.

Stating that the Greeks have revised their Zoning Law, which was enacted in 1972, 29 times, and that the law has been updated according to the conditions of the day, Gürcafer said, “We! Did we get it fool proof? Did we do it so perfectly?” he asked.

Explaining that the process was blocked due to the authority given to them by this law, CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer continued as follows:

“There were many difficulties in the final stage of the zoning plan. Political pressures, objections, debates, etc. So I went to the plan team and we had a candid conversation. In summary, if these plans had been made in the 1980s, before the land reform, we would not have any problems today, but our ancestors made a mistake and kicked the ball to touch. Either we will also kick it to touch as well and create a worse arrangement or we will solve it. But once the construction has begun, a resolution is difficult. So I said, ‘let us develop a framework, let us secure the forests, wetlands, protected areas, preserve fabric of a village’. We agreed on this too. Then I said, ‘The current situation should be analysed; who bought what from where and for what purpose’. I further added, ‘being that, if there is pressure on politics, we will jeopardize this plan’. The next day, Minister of Interior Ayşegül Baybars called me and said that the planning team had brought in an initiative.  After that we said, ‘OK, we have no objections to the plan, we would like this plan to be signed off as well’.  That evening we received a message that the plan had been signed off. It turns out that on that same day, UCCTEA picks up a fight in that meeting and the initiative is reversed again. Furthermore, the mayors had put their signatures on the plan without the authorization of the municipal councils, and the next day, it all comes to a head and Ersin Tatar declares, ‘I will not sign this plan’. We are this juncture due to populism. We now need to perform a self-assessment, forgive each other and join up on this journey for what is right.”

“THE ESTRANGEMENT OF OUR LANDS IS NOT TO DO WITH THIS, BUT IS MORE DUE TO THE INCORRECTLY AWARDED CITIZENSHIPS.”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer stated that the discourse on ‘our lands are becoming estranged’ is unjustified.

Gürcafer said, “The TRNC is not the epicentre of the world. There is the example of Malta. Our people are being deliberately misinformed by someone. The land you need to build 20 thousand dwellings within the framework of Chapter 96 is 1000 decares. The land you need for 100 thousand dwellings is 5000 decares. TRNC is 2 million 455 thousand decares. This is a model for tourism. If we consider 20 thousand dwellings, when one dwelling is rented to a visitor for 4 months, 1 million tourists would come to this country. These tourists do not stay locked up in the hotel either. They contribute to the country’s economy. The estrangement of our lands is not to do with this, but is more due to the incorrectly awarded citizenships. To my contractors; I said, ‘there will not be a return to Chapter 96, stop dreaming about it’. I am mindful that what we need for our social life is a planned existence. I make my every evaluation on this basis, and I take every step by looking at whether it serves this purpose or not.

“WE TOOK THE STEP NEEDED IN THE LONG BEACH REGION, WORK IS ONGOING”

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer also answered questions about the construction works in the Long Beach region and environmental problems in that area.

Gürcafer said, “No one did anything about that either, we took the step. ‘We said, ‘A fund will be formed during the zoning plan period, and the treatment plant of the region will be built from that fund’. We formed the fund management. We also had our first meeting. They criticized it and mocked it. I’m trying to do something good. You join in too. If it’s wrong, let’s do the right thing together. You can’t achieve anything with constant criticism.

CTBCA President Cafer Gürcafer said that the sewage has not yet mixed into the sea in the area, but that necessary work should be done as soon as possible.

Gürcafer, said:

“We need to do this right away. There is no such situation at present, but in 0ne to two years, sewage will mix into the sea water. What happened was: septic tanks must be made of concrete and be impermeable. Some got punctured. We’ve identified those few individual homes. The water level is high there. Colibacillus reached the underground water, but not the sea. The Ministry of Health already takes measurements there every 15 days. A contractor does not know quality of the water coming out of the ground while he is digging for the foundations. He thought it was clean water, he collected it and poured what he believed was rainwater into the drainage line, then the water got mixed into the creek. When I learned about the incident, I immediately contacted the municipality, the next day I sent a team, we remedied the situation. We immediately held a meeting and issued the necessary caution. Subsequently, we held a meeting at the Ministry of Interior and took a decision and said, ‘Let’s build these sewerage and wastewater treatment plants by paying for it ourselves as soon as possible’ and we took a step in this regard.”

 

“KYRENIA HOSPITAL… I WOULD DO THE SAME AGAIN IF IT WAS TODAY.”

Commenting on the criticisms of the CTBCA management and the contractors regarding the Kyrenia Hospital tender, Cafer Gürcafer said, “I would do the same again if it was today. I know very well what that fellow is criticizing us for.”

Gürcafer, said:

I am the CTBCA President and represent law 18/98. There is also the law numbered 19/98. I have to approach all my members equally. I have to oversee and fight to ensure that the laws treat all contractors equally and affords them the same opportunities. I know very well what that fellow is criticizing us for. But I don’t want to speak out of turn here. The important thing for me was to give equal opportunity to my members, and I did. I would do it again anyway. If the tender had been awarded that day, the contractor who took the job would have gone bankrupt and would have been unable to complete the building.

There is a Public Procurement Regulation. From the 1980s to 2008, all tenders were handled according to this regulation. The Public Procurement Law was prepared and passed by the Parliament. It was said that it will not be in force until the end of the year, and the law will enter into force once the Construction Works Regulation is implemented at the end of the year. During this period, we were actively involved in the preparation of the law. We contributed significantly to its development. When the drafting of the regulation came to the fore, they never called us. At the last minute, they took it and put in the old public tender regulation. Therefore, the regulation conflicted with the law. While there is a law and this law determines how the contractors will be given a report card, and what size of work they will do, you cannot at the same time limit them with another regulation. If that regulation had been cancelled that day, that tender would have concluded on the same day.

If you criticize the CTBCA President for opposing that tender because it would cause an injustice among its members, if you do not criticize the cancellation of this regulation for 1.5 years, then I will conclude that you are harbouring ill-will. Now the tender process has been restarted, and 9 contractors have filed.”