Three-billion lira worth of contracts for 'Nation's Gardens' in five months

*This article was published on atolyebia.org, the Communication Platform of Atölye BİA (BİA Workshop).

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The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change's decision to demolish İstanbul's Atatürk Airport and the publication of the images of the "Nation's Garden" that is planned to replace the airport has caused a public outcry. Eyes have once again turned to the expenditures to be made for the Nation's Gardens, the recreational areas built by the government around the country. In 2022, contracts were signed for the construction of 26 Nation's Gardens.

CLICK - Work starts to demolish Atatürk Airport runways to build 'Nation's Garden'

According to the information on the Electronic Public Purchase Platform (EKAP), the total cost of the contracts that the Housing Development Agency (TOKİ) and various local administrations signed with private companies is 3 billion 302 million 930 thousand lira (~208 million US dollars).

The provinces where the construction of a Nation's Garden began in 2022 are İstanbul, Ankara, Afyonkarahisar, Malatya, Ağrı, Diyarbakır, Hatay, Kırklareli, Şırnak, Bitlis, Mersin, Tokat, Batman, Osmaniye, Adana, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ and Uşak.

A contract for the Nation's Garden to be built on the area of Atatürk Airport was put out to tender on April 29. After closed negotiations (21/B) between the Yapı ve Yapı Construction firm and the TOKİ, a method that should be implemented in case of "natural disasters, epidemics, and sudden and unexpected incidents" according to the Public Tender Law, a contract worth of 2 billion 174 million 978 lira was signed.

More expensive than 25 Nation's Gardens

The Atatürk Airport Nation's Garden has the highest cost with 2 billion 174 million 978 lira, the "Murat River Nation's Garden," whose construction started in Ağrı on May 5, is the second with 205 million lira.

Out of the 26 Nation's Gardens whose contracts were signed in 2022, the total cost of 25 Nation's Gardens except for the Atatürk Airport Nation's Garden is 1 billion 127 million 952 thousand lira. The total cost of the 25 Nation's Gardens is about half of that of the Atatürk Airport Nation's Garden.

The first Nation's Garden in 2022

The contract price of the Uşak Nation's Garden, the construction of which was started by the TOKİ on January 12, was 59 million 750 thousand lira. Along with the TOKİ, various local administrations such as the district municipalities of Emirdağ, Pütürge, Bismil, Güngören, Hilal and Yenişehir spent millions of lira for Nation's Gardens.

The other Nation's Gardens and their costs:

• Bitlis: 94 million lira
• Ankara Keçiören: 92 million 929 bin lira
• İstanbul Bayrampaşa: 77 million lira
• Ankara Gölbaşı: 74 million 740 bin lira
• İstanbul Silivri: 53 million lira
• Tokat: 53 million lira
• Osmaniye: 45 million lira
• Kocaeli Körfez: 44 million 210 bin lira
• Adana Seyhan: 43 million lira
• Hatay: 42 million lira
• Batman: 34 million 390 bin lira

Along with these Nation's Gardens whose contracts have been signed and constructions have begun, 16 Nation's Gardens whose tender processes haven't been completed yet are expected to be built this year. (EK/ÖAÇ/SO/NÖ