Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, within the scope of the “Sponge City” project initiated to combat drought in the city, visited Karaburun Sarpıncık, the first rain-collecting village in Turkey. President Soyer once again drew attention to the necessity of living a harmonious and peaceful life with the power of nature. Soyer said, “The roofs of buildings in metropolitan districts receive as much precipitation as Tahtalı Dam. "We decided to collect rain," he said.
The "Sponge City" project, implemented by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality against the global climate crisis and fighting against poverty as well as drought, attracted great interest in rural areas as well as in metropolitan districts. Aiming to use water efficiently by harvesting rainwater, the residents of Sarpıncık Village of Karaburun expanded the project with the rain tanks distributed to them by the Metropolitan Municipality and created awareness. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, Turkey's first rain-collecting village, met with the residents of the region.
He drew attention to the effects of the global climate crisis
The President examining the warehouses placed in the gardens of the houses in the village for the rain harvest Tunç Soyer“Our world is facing a huge global crisis. This crisis, called the climate crisis, actually means that our planet is getting sick. How do we get sick, our body temperature rises one degree, when we reach 38 degrees, we go to bed. Our planet has also warmed by one and a half degrees. We live on a sick planet now. We cannot be well until the planet we live on is good. Earthquakes, thirst, drought, great floods, floods… This has never happened in the past. Why is it happening now? Because this sick planet shows signs of its disease from somewhere every day," he said.
“We should not do wild watering”
Reminding that there was a tsunami in Sığacık during the Izmir earthquake, Mayor Soyer said, “We have to make peace with nature, listen to it, and build a life in harmony with it. We should not waste water resources as if they will not run out, as if they will not run out. We shouldn't do wild watering. We must produce plants, vegetables and fruits suitable for it. Our ancestors did so. Did they choose the olive for nothing in these lands? Because the climate of this land is compatible with its precipitation. Now we have to live a harmonious and peaceful life with this land, to claim the power of this nature. We are not aware enough of the drought issue," he said.
“We are proud of you”
Expressing that they have implemented the Sponge City project to combat drought, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, said: “We measured that only the roofs of buildings in metropolitan districts receive as much precipitation as Tahtalı Dam. We decided to collect that rain. Sarpınçık, the first rain-collecting village in İzmir. We are proud of you too. We hope these rains continue. It has rained a lot this year, do not think that we are relieved. We will not see precipitation like this used to be. This will be either flood or drought. The old normal is over. Then we will collect the rain. We will gather on our roofs. We will also collect them in our villages with our tanks.”
Who participated?
Karaburun Mayor Ilkay Girgin Erdogan, Izmir Village-Koop. Union President Neptün Soyer, Karaburun Batı Neighborhood Agricultural Development Cooperative President Levent Gültekin, Eğlen Hoca Village Headman Çağlayan Devrim, Mordoğan Neighborhood Headman Şaban Ok, Kösedere Neighborhood Headman Mehmet Özduran, Haseki Village Headman Mehmet Balıkçı, Salman Neighborhood Headman Barış Sevinç, Yayla Village Headman İsa Arıcı, Karaburun Merkez Neighborhood Headman Bilgin Ergezgin, Sarpıncık Village Headman Hüseyin Yonca, İnecik Village Headman Jale Buldanlıoğlu, Parlak Village Headman Kadriye Gültekin as well as many citizens attended.