CHP deputy asked Minister Elvan why Sabuncubeli tunnel construction was halted

CHP deputy asked Minister Elvan the reason why the construction of the Sabuncubeli tunnel was halted: CHP Manisa Deputy Hasan Ören with a parliamentary question; He asked the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, Lütfi Elvan, why the construction of the Sabuncubeli tunnel was halted.
CHP Manisa Deputy Hasan Ören, who submitted a parliamentary question to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly; Sabuncubeli asked the reason for the halting of the tunnel construction with the request of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Lütfi Elvan to answer. CHP Deputy
Ören gave the following statements in the motion:
“The news that the construction of the Sabuncubeli tunnel on the Izmir-Manisa Highway, the most important road connecting the Aegean region to Istanbul and Marmara, has stopped, are in the press. It was promised that the construction of the tunnel, which started with a great groundbreaking ceremony in 2011, will be completed within two years, and it was announced that it would be completed in September 2013 and opened to vehicle traffic. However, the fact that the recipient company did not start to work for a long time caused the suspicion that the construction of the tunnel will be interrupted. Despite the tender and the contract, the Sabuncubeli project has been modified twice, and its length has been increased from 2 thousand 800 meters to 4 thousand 070 meters and later to 6 thousand 480 meters. While the company, which will build the tunnel with the Build-Operate-Transfer model, will have the operating right for 11 years 11 months 11 days, this period has been extended with the project change. It is alleged that during your government period, public projects were first kept small, tenders and contracts were made accordingly, and then the project changes and business was enlarged and money was unfairly transferred to companies. In the media reports, it is claimed that the company that won the tender had difficulty in payment and transferred the work to another firm as a sub-contractor, and this company could not get the money of the workers because they did not pay, and 90 percent of the workers quit their jobs. If it goes like this, it is often stated by the citizens that it is not possible to complete the Sabuncubeli Tunnel, which is of great importance for Manisa, and open it to vehicle traffic ”.
Ören asked Minister Elvan the following questions in his motion:
“Why has the Sabuncubeli tunnel construction stopped? Is the decision to stop the work within the knowledge of your Ministry? Have you imposed administrative and penal sanctions against the company that stopped its work against the tender and the contract? Will any extra payment be made to the company doing the work for the increase due to the increase in tunnel length? Or will the concession be given to increase the operating time? Are the claims that the enlargement of the project made after the start of the work and the concession by making an additional payment to the company without a tender or by extending the operating period is to complicate the tender? Although one year has passed since September 2013, when the tunnel will be completed, the construction has not been completed. In this case, will the tender be canceled? How much is the public damage incurred by the state due to the incomplete work? When will the construction works continue in this unfinished project? What is the exact date when the Sabuncubeli tunnel will be completed and opened to vehicle traffic? "