Public Procurement Law continues to be discussed in the Parliament

General of the “Public Procurement (Amendment) Draft Law” in the General Assembly of the Assembly of the Republic

Negotiations are continuing.

CTP Deputy Salahi Şahiner, speaking about the draft law, stated how many days the relevant law had been discussed, the agenda was occupied with the law regarding a company, and made criticisms.

Şahiner argued that instead of investing in Kıb-Tek, it has reached the point where it is today, and that money is being transferred to the safe of the relevant company, claiming that the government is not telling the truth about the law to the society, and gave information about the committee’s work.

Şahiner argued that the power plants were not maintained for years, the production power was not increased, and the duty was neglected, as discussed in the committee; He said that if the installed power is repaired, the production can meet the need without the need for 3 more years of investment.

Şahiner gave technical information about the current installed power and said that the company cost the country more than 30 million dollars due to the purchase guarantee. Thereupon, there was a discussion about who signed the contract signed with the company. Şahiner stated that the government did not provide accurate information about Kıb-Tek to the society and said that the failure to make the necessary investments and maintenance on time brought the institution to the present day.

“We will be without electricity. Arguing that the statements such as “We do not need AKSA”, “AKSA produces cheaper, the presence of AKSA reduces prices”, “Kıb-Tek is the debtor, it does not have the power to invest”, “There is no time to invest” are not true, Şahiner said that in the planned contract. He said that some ministers were “marriage officers and some were wedding witnesses”.

Referring to the explanations about the electricity coming with the cable, Şahiner said that there are different explanations about who covers the cost of the cable and that the contract is “malicious”.

CTP Chairman Tufan Erhürman took the floor again and said, “Who signed this contract in 2009? repeating the answer to the question, “The CTP government signed under the chairmanship of Ferdi Sabit Soyer. “This is not something unknown,” he said.

Erhürman recalled the speech that Deputy Armağan Candan had given about the conditions under which it was signed and emphasized that they did not say that “this contract is great”.

Reminding that the Minister of Economy and Energy Olgun Amcaoğlu has submitted the draft laws to the Parliament for the formation of the Energy Department and the Supreme Council, Erhürman said that there is no need for laws for the government to call the chambers and engineers and speak, but if a law is needed, it is not impossible to pass these laws through the committee all this time, He noted that CTP is always ready to help.

Reminding the capacity-production figures that Olgun Amcaoğlu shared about the power plants today, Erhürman said that apart from renewable energy, the power actually corresponds to 458 together with AKSA, and the total usage is around 366-368, adding that there is 80 MW more capacity and this is not used. .

Sharing the figures regarding the peaks, Erhürman said that the energy in use has decreased since 2019, and suggested that the reasons for this were the lack of maintenance and repair “according to the ministers’ statements”.

Erhürman, referring to the practices that cause harm in Kıb-Tek today, said, “Kıb-Tek does not harm itself. It suffers because of the application,” he said.

Erhürman said that the maximum peak output in summer is 342 mw, and the current active use is above that. Minister Olgun Amcaoğlu, who took the floor on this, gave information about the machines and said, “If they can’t put the thermal power plants into operation within 5-6 hours, there is a problem again tonight.”

Stating that the diesel numbers of Kıb-Tek and AKSA are the same, but Kıb-Tek has less production, Erhürman stated that the management should explain the reason for this deficiency.

Erhürman drew attention to the need for maintenance-repair on the machines in order to be prepared for the summer, and said, “If the maintenance is done, it is not possible for us to have problems with these figures.”

Erhürman, who said, “I still do not clearly understand what the subject of this contract is”, said that the subject was “interconnected” from the Prime Minister’s speech, and from Minister Arıklı’s speech that the subject was “Additional power plant to be built by AKSA and then conversion to natural gas”, Deputy Küçük He said that they understood from the speech of .

Erhürman argued that “without even understanding what the contract is, the Parliament was asked to sign a contract without a tender, and such an authority cannot be given”, “What is the justification? That is my whole question,” Erhürman said, adding that if they had come to them with their justifications, their attitude would not have been like this.

Emphasizing that it is essential to make a visibilty before any contract is made, Erhürman suggested that making a feasibility study is a beginning, that it is not a wise thing to make a contract without it, and that the last thing to be done is done first.

Emphasizing that the contract covers 15 years, Erhürman said, “We are talking about something that will connect my 52 years and 67 years of age…”

Erhürman reiterated that if a problem arises in the future due to this contract, it will have to be terminated and those responsible will be revoked.

CTP Deputy Devrim Barçın, who took the floor later, argued that Kıb-Tek’s 2023 balance sheet was passed but 2021 and 2022 balance sheets were not available, and that independent auditors wrote that “verification could not be confirmed” on bank loan and deposit accounts in Kıb-Tek’s balance sheets for the years 2019-2020. claiming that this “means there is theft,” he said.

Barçın also read the press releases of former Minister Sunat Atun regarding Kıb-Tek’s debts, and suggested that the government did not take the necessary steps to restructure debts and adjust prices, making the institution obligatory to pay high interest.

Barçın said, “The reason for our stance against this law is that we do not trust you. You are using your powers to destroy the institutions of the Turkish Cypriot community,” he said.

CTP Deputy Salahi Şahiner claimed that the bill was a specially prepared law for the company in order to cut the throats of the Turkish Cypriot people and put them in the company’s coffers and said, “You are committing a grave sin.”

Şahiner argued that as a result of the excess costs paid to AKSA, there is a loss of more than 60 million dollars due to AKSA’s presence in this country, and said that the people will continue to be crushed by high electricity bills due to the purchase guaranteed contract.

Arguing that it cannot be a dc cable that will ensure energy supply security, Şahiner noted that even if there is a cable, there should be an installed power in the country and maintenance and repair should be continued.

Şahiner said, “If this country had a policy of privatization in electricity generation, this would not be the way it would act”, adding that the competition of the Kıb-Tek Board of Directors is like energy that will generate billions of liras out of the pockets of the people without confusing the Tender Commission and the Parliament. He claimed that a situation was created where he would go and meet with a single company for an issue.

Emphasizing that it is a great risk for AKSA to continue producing with fuel oil until the cable arrives, Şahiner said, “There is nothing tangible about this. “This is really a betrayal of the Turkish Cypriot people,” he said.

In his speech at the rostrum, Deputy Teberrüken Uluçay pointed out that this issue has been discussed in the Parliament and abroad for 10 days and noted that the next steps are not known, and that it is the right of the people to know.

Uluçay pointed out that in the past, discussions were made regarding its autonomy, and consensus was reached, and that there was a confirmation for the establishment of an Energy Supreme Council, and that a projection should be formed and the work carried out should be moved to a solid port.

Reminding that with the desired amendment to the Tender Law, government officials stated that they would make a stronger bargain with the relevant company when they sat down at the table, Uluçay said that there was no need for a change in the law to do this.

Uluçay stated that “if the intention is to pull the cable to connect to the interconnected system”, it is possible to carry out a feasibility study for this, without making any changes in the Tender Law, and he emphasized the importance of carrying out a feasibility study.

Uluçay said that much more suitable energy supply security could be provided for the country and said, “It is not too late. The next process is an opportunity. This opportunity should be used” and stated that the condition for this is the autonomy of Kib-Tek; called for work in this direction.

CTP Güzelyurt Deputy Armağan Candan, on the other hand, read President Ersin Tatar’s statements to the press regarding energy and AKSA during his prime ministry, pointing out that Tatar criticizes that “with the previous contract with AKSA, the country was committed for 15-16 years”. .

Candan called on the President and said that he should seek the opinion of the relevant parties before this law comes before him.

“Otherwise, unfortunately, bigger strikes, bigger demonstrations, bigger power cuts, dark evenings await us,” Candan said.

TAK/BRT