Ministry approves organized industrial zone on agricultural fields in Thrace

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The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has granted a "positive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)" report for the Plastic Manufacturers' Organized Industrial Zone Investment Area planned to be established on fertile agricultural fields in Tekirdağ's Ergene district in Thrace.

Protesting the decision of the Ministry, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Cancan Yüceer has recalled that the Tekirdağ 1st Administrative Court gave a ruling of stay of execution in the court case filed by the TMMOB Tekirdağ Chamber of Agricultural Engineers.

'They will produce plastics instead of sunflowers'

As reported by Veli Toprak from daily Sözcü, CHP's Candan Yüceer has raised concerns that "instead of wheat and sunflower, there is a desire to produce plastics on the fertile agricultural fields of Thrace."

"We will feed our children plastics," the MP has asked, questioning the reason why there is an attempt to establish the organized industrial zone on agricultural fields while there are empty fields as well.

Referring to the related court ruling, Yüceer has said, "In the ruling of the court, it has been concluded that the region is a 1st Degree Agricultural Land and irrigated farming can be done there."

Sharing the details about the legal process that culminated in the stay of execution by a court ruling, Yüceer has stressed that "this region is a storehouse of sunflower and wheat for the country."

The MP has recalled that "there are 8 industrial zones in Ergene and their occupancy rate is around 30 percent."

"Industries show how developed a country is. We are not against industrial facilities; however, establishing an industry of plastics on agricultural land is unacceptable," Candan Yüceer has added further.

Agricultural in Ergene basin

Ergene is a district of Tekirdağ in northwestern Turkey. It has 16 neighborhoods and, according to the latest census, its population is 64,820.

There are organized industrial zones in the district, including the European Free Area, Ergene Organized Industrial Zone 1, Ergene Organized Industrial Zone 2 and Velimeşe Organized Industrial Zone.

Issue of mucilage

Moreover, as the effects of the mucilage (or sea snot) problem, which troubled the Marmara sea this summer, are still felt, experts have been repeating their warnings that the discharge of Ergene, as a triggering factor, must be stopped in order to put an end to the mucilage problem.

However, the more the industrial load of the region will get, the more polluted the Marmara Sea will become.

What does the project foresee?

According to the information shared on the website of the contractor company, the Plastic Industry Collective Workplace and Construction Cooperative (PAKOB), the Organized Industrial Zone is planned to cover an area of 2.7 billion square meters in Ergene.

According to the Cooperative, when the project is put into practice, it will be the largest and only plastics cluster of Europe and Turkey. 30 thousand people are expected to be employed there. (TP/SD)