Budget only enough to ‘patch up’ roads
ROAD safety campaigners and opposition MPs have slammed a new 255-million
TL budget for the Public Works and Transport Ministry, saying that it will only be enough to “patch up” the country’s “crumbling” roads.
There was also criticism of Public Works and Transport Minister Tolga Atakan, who disclosed that electricity authority Kıb-Tek would take over responsibility for street lighting from his ministry in the New Year.
Parliament approved the 2020 public works and transport spending plans on Monday despite opposition MPs saying the budget was “insufficient” to cope with the cost of properly maintaining existing roads and building new ones.
Traffic Accident Prevention Association chairman Mehmet Avcı joined the demands for extra money telling Cyprus Today that 255 million TL is “insufficient” to construct “muchawaited new roads”.
Although it remains unclear whether the budget will effect previously announced plans to transform the bottleneck Alsancak-Lapta road into a dual carriageway, he said: “There has been damage and erosion of our roads for the past 10 years and even when they are fixed, they are not fixed properly.”
Mr Avcı also criticised Mr Atakan over his decision to pass responsibility for street lighting to Kıb-Tek. “It is the responsibility of the state to provide lighting for our roads . . . [which] currently have too few traffic signs, markings and lines on them.
“Many have almost vanished and a revamp or expansion of the GirneLefkoşa route is needed in addition to the AlsancakLapta road and parts of the Lefkoşa-Gazimağusa road while the Girne-Gönyeli and Gönyeli-Boğaz roads all have non-functioning street lights.
“What needs to be done is to make changes to the law to penalise the authorities for failing to properly maintain street lights and roads, rather than simply changing responsibility from one branch of government to another.”
During Monday’s parliamentary debate, main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) MP Salahi Şahiner led calls for a more substantial budget to be allocated.
“The current amount is only enough for patching up potholes and cracks . . . funds should be channelled to the Public Works and Transport Ministry from other sources and its departments should be strengthened and enabled to operate more efficiently.”
Another CTP MP, Sıla Usar İncirli, urged a strengthening of the Planning and Construction Department, a call that was endorsed by Democrat Party MP Serdar Denktaş.
Mr Atakan said in reaction to the criticisms: “I agree that the budget for my ministry is insufficient but the realities of the country must be borne in mind. There are problems in every area . . . requests have been made for more resources . . . but there are problems in securing them.”
Referring to street lighting, he said responsibility for it had been transferred to Kıb-Tek “because the Highways Department, which was responsible for the lighting . . . does not have staff and equipment to deal with the problem”, adding: “It has only one vehicle fitted with a lift but there is not a single staff member who can use it.”