HEAVY investment to change the face of Didim – which will include proposed underground car parks, an amphitheatre, and cultural centre – will be the focus for 2021, Mayor Deniz Atabay, has promised.
Although some of the projects have been declared previously, but it is the first time that the Mayor has nailed his colours to the mast so emphatically.
Stating that 2021 will be a year when Didim Municipality started heavy investments together with Aydin Metropolitan Municipality, Mayor Atabay said: “We will implement all of them one by one. Amphitheater, cultural center and 65 km bicycle path…We will start by making their tenders.
“In addition, we will make the building which was planned as a cultural center in the past as a Children and Youth Center. There will be music, theater and folklore courses. The upper floor will be a 650-seat wedding hall, wedding room, kitchen and toilets.
The old wedding hall in the centre of Didim will instead be turned into a digital library.
In a bid to solve the town’s chronic parking problems, Mr Atabay said the council has identified four such areas for underground parking lots. The work will be undertaken by Aydin Metropolitan Municipality.
Mayor Atabay said: “Parking lots related to this issue have been determined. The money allocated for the parking lot is already in those accounts and the money is ready. Aydin asked us for a place in this regard.
“We showed the existing parking lot under the Wednesday market; under Yeni Mahalle park; under Altınkum Yunuslu Park and in front of the Tourism Association. Two of these four locations will be decided after technical reviews. If there are concerns about this issue, we will inform the public, if necessary. “
Mr Atabay said the council is 95% complete on a project dedicated for Kent Square. He will announce further details of the project in the coming days.
As for the ongoing fish farm industrial zone near Didim, he said problem “has disappeared”.“We did not receive an official letter, and the letter will be sent to the District Directorate of Agriculture. We were against it from the very beginning. There is a situation like shifting this issue to Adana Karataş.”
“The Ministry of Tourism has the promise of a mega project for Didim and we will continue our negotiations on this subject at the Ministry,” he added.
He noted that the debts of Didim Council amounted to 32 million TL but these are beign paid off in various ways. He said: “We are not the most indebted municipality anymore. We have structured, and paying, tax debts. The municipality does not have heavy debt to the Didim market either.
“As a municipality, it has a debt of 32 million TL, but there are regular payments every week. Our biggest burden is on SGK. We talked to the general manager to structure it
The ongoing issue of a new bus station continues to be one that still sits in the ‘pending tray.” It appears to be a matter of bureaucracy slowing down potential action and remains so. He added:
“The (allocated) place is pasture land and we have permission from Aydın Provincial Pasture Board. Then a letter was sent to the relevant department in the Ministry, but the document was lost there. We gave the document and number of the article in Ankara to our district president. We are also waiting for news so that we can go. If they make the allocation, I promise here, we will start the construction of the bus station in 3 months.”