Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey made striking statements about the institution's financial situation in his speech at the BUSKİ General Directorate General Assembly. Bozbey stated that BUSKİ's debt will reach 25 billion liras by the end of the year and said, "While BUSKİ supported the municipality for years, unfortunately BUSKİ has now fallen into need of the municipality. We have started to transfer 300-350 million liras to BURULAŞ and 100 million liras to BUSKİ every month. This needs to be known."
“75 Percent of BUSKI’s Debt is in Foreign Currency”
The agenda items were discussed at the BUSKİ General Directorate General Assembly held at the Metropolitan Municipality Council Meeting Hall under the presidency of Mayor Mustafa Bozbey. Speaking at the meeting, Mayor Bozbey announced that BUSKİ's total debt will increase to approximately 25 billion liras by the end of the year. Reminding that he had previously shared the reasons for this situation with the public in a transparent manner, Bozbey stated that they had promised to 'make water 25 percent cheaper' in line with the information they received during the election period and after assuming office, and that they had all made this decision in the council together.
However, President Bozbey stated that as BUSKİ learned its true financial situation, the grave consequences of past mistakes became apparent, and said, “Yes, we said we made a mistake. I have told this to the public before. According to our calculations, BUSKİ’s debt will reach 25 billion liras by the end of this year. Due to agreements made before, 75 percent of BUSKİ’s debt is foreign currency debt. A 1 lira increase in foreign currency increases BUSKİ’s debt by 350 million liras. BUSKİ’s costs are also clear. Today, water costs are around 55 liras.”
“BUSKI has become in need of the Municipality”
President Bozbey also announced that there was 180 days of water left in the dams in Bursa due to the climate crisis, and stated that work on the transmission line coming from Çınarcık Dam was accelerated. Bozbey said that they felt the need to build a bypass line up to Dobruca, and noted that the work on the line was aimed to be completed by the end of August. Stating that approximately 50-60 thousand cubic meters of water will be carried per day with this line, Mayor Bozbey said, “Only then will we be able to save the people of Bursa from thirst. This is another additional cost. All members of the assembly have responsibilities regarding BUSKİ. There are also suggestions. It will also come to the commission. There should also be a regulation that prioritizes savings regarding BUSKİ. Opinions on these should be put forward. While BUSKİ supported the municipality for years, unfortunately BUSKİ has now fallen into need of the municipality. As of now, we have started to transfer 300-350 million liras to BURULAŞ and 100 million liras to BUSKİ every month. This should be known. The work done also needs to be continued. Debts need to be paid.”
Information About the Lawsuit Process in BUSKI
President Bozbey also made statements about the ongoing lawsuit process regarding BUSKİ. Recalling the ongoing lawsuits at the Bursa 5th General Enforcement Office, Bozbey explained that money was sent from BUSKİ to people all around Türkiye and said the following:
“The identification and finding of the people there is of course a legal issue. There should be around 680 people. We have taken on an important responsibility. We are fulfilling this responsibility. This case is ongoing. We are following the case. Even with the lowest fee given by the courthouse, you have to pay around 1 million 680 thousand liras for the cases. The money to be collected, which we call the fraud, is around 86 million liras. But these are the money from about 4-5 years ago. It was possible to collect these and some of them were collected. They are continuing to be collected. Every penny will return to BUSKİ’s coffers with interest. All those responsible have been suspended.”
These statements by Mayor Bozbey revealed the financial difficulties that BUSKİ is in and the efforts of the Metropolitan Municipality to overcome this situation. It was emphasized that the increase in the exchange rate in particular significantly increased the debt burden and that the institution had difficulty standing on its own feet. Mayor Bozbey, who also drew attention to the responsibility of the members of the assembly, stated that solutions should be produced with common sense for the future of BUSKİ.
