‘No secret Dome Hotel deal has been made’

NO SECRET deal has been made to renew the lease for a valuable Evkaf-owned seafront hotel in Girne, Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman said on Monday.

His comments came during a debate in Parliament in response to remarks by National Unity Party (UBP) opposition MP Ersin Tatar, who said he had heard “rumours” that the controversial lease for the iconic Dome Hotel, which had been due to expire on May 14, had been extended without public knowledge. The issue has been high on the domestic agenda since ministers launched a review of the way land and property owned by the Evkaf religious foundation, which is regulated by the state, was being administered.

Earlier this month Dr Erhürman ordered a report after Evkaf claimed that any new Dome Hotel leaseholders would have to invest 35 million TL into the establishment — claims dismissed by the Tourism Workers’ Union (TES) which held the previous lease.

The Evkaf audit also raised a series of financial concerns over the terms of the 10year agreement with TES. Accounts covering the 2008 deal suggested Evkaf had incurred “serious losses” over the last decade because the rent had been set too low. The foundation’s report had also recommended that the annual rent chargeable for the Dome Hotel be set at 400,000 euros under any new arrangement.

“The transparency debates over the Dome Hotel continue,” Mr Tatar said. “We received hearsay information that a contract was signed and the lease was extended in secret.

“How come the government — which keeps saying they attach great importance to [transparent] procurement processes — act in contrary to the principle of transparency?”

The PM said the “leasing and lease renewal of Evkaf-owned properties” had been “discussed in Parliament many times”.

“If the [Dome] lease had been renewed, we would have been more than happy to publicly share [that information],” he replied.

“For the last few weeks officials from Evkaf, the Prime Ministry and Dome Hotel have been carrying out a study into the . . . hotel’s accounts. Following the report, we will come to a conclusion over the annual rent rate. We have been putting efforts for either the renewal or cancellation of the contract in line with the law.”

Dr Erhürman added that public tenders were not required for Evkaf-owned properties.