President Aras and Ünlü deliver a message of unity

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras, initiated district visits for the purpose of working in coordination, with the first stop being Marmaris.

Mayor Aras, together with Marmaris Mayor Acar Ünlü, conducted neighborhood visits in the district. The two mayors, who also faced the cameras, made statements on important issues such as illegal constructions, tourism, sea transportation, and projects that will bring life to Bozburun Peninsula.

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras dedicated the first business day of the week to visits in Marmaris and its neighborhoods. Accompanied by Marmaris Mayor Acar Ünlü, Mayor Aras held public meetings in Çamlı, Selimiye, Bozburun, Söğüt, and Bayır. The two mayors met with the citizens in Çamlı Neighborhood in the morning, listened to the demands and suggestions coming from the residents, and provided information to the neighborhood residents about the ongoing projects in the region. Subsequently, Mayor Aras and Mayor Ünlü came to Marmaris Municipality Service Building, where they held a press conference and answered questions from the media.

Stating that they visit districts to plan joint investments and to proceed in coordination between the districts and metropolitan municipalities, Ahmet Aras continued his statements as follows: ‘The economic difficulties have also disrupted the financial situation of our municipalities. Personnel costs have also increased significantly. Municipalities are now unable to make investments. Revenues cannot cover expenses at the moment. In this sense, it is necessary to strengthen the municipalities financially. Especially for municipalities like us, where the population varies greatly between summer and winter, we had suggestions such as ‘city tax’ and leaving a part of the motor vehicle tax to municipalities, but unfortunately none of these were taken into consideration. We do not differentiate between big and small cities. If our municipalities face difficulties, we will of course support them.’

Speaking about the cleaning of stream beds, Mayor Acar Ünlü said, ‘We, as the district municipality, work without distinguishing between the metropolitan municipality, combining our efforts for better service. What matters is the satisfaction of our citizens. We have started works such as maintenance of stream surroundings, maintenance and painting of railings, and cleaning of beds. But, as you can appreciate, it is not possible to clean everything at once. We continue our work in stream beds sequentially. This also takes time because it is done with human power. We have combined all our machinery, equipment, and personnel. We also expect sensitivity from our citizens on this matter.’

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras, in his speech, also announced two new developments that are of great interest to the region. Aras stated that as of July 1st, there will be ferry services three times a day between Marmaris and Fethiye, which will reduce the travel time by road by one third. Furthermore, mentioning the project that has been ongoing for a while to solve the water shortage in Bozburun Peninsula, Mayor Aras said, ‘As of today, water has reached the water tank in Turunç neighborhood. Our goal in the upcoming period is to deliver water to Bozburun Neighborhood by July 15th. As water usage increases, we will also develop projects and allocate financial resources to dispose of wastewater in every neighborhood under the leadership of MUSKI.’

The visit program of Mayor Aras and Mayor Ünlü continued with public meetings in Selimiye, Bozburun, Söğüt, and Bayır.