Esentepe - Water Query

Fesenjan123 · Post by **Fesenjan123** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 5:39 pm

Do we know Cypriot paper the article will be in?
Someone asked if the Ombudsman, Emine Dizdarli, was aware of the situation. Has anyone contacted her at all?

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 6:15 pm

Fesenjan123, I am told from a Facebook source that a Cypriot is contacting the Ombudsman. However, if you can do this also it may help the cause. I regret I do not know the name of the newspaper. If anybody can get a photo of the roadblocks, please email them to me at [email protected]. I will then forward them to my source who is in contact with the paper. Thanks.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 6:18 pm

Love life, did he call the Police? If so, what was their answer?

Fesenjan123 · Post by **Fesenjan123** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 7:19 pm

Tomsteel, I have emailed the Ombudsman.
Also emailed a journalist at Kibris Gazetesi, who I was told, would be interested to hear the story. That's why I was wondering which Cypriot paper was running the story.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 7:51 pm

Thanks, I will ask tomorrow.

Lovelife · Post by **Lovelife** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 9:07 pm

Tomsteel

I am a little confused, why would he call the police?

LL

jofra · Post by **jofra** » Thu 03 Nov 2016 9:29 pm

Perhaps on the basis that (some of) the large group of people (those that were expats) were "demonstrating/protesting", which for "foreigners" is against the law, and therefore, if it is possible to use (misuse) the law to suppress dissension, why not do so? If protests against extortion and corruption can be silenced, extortion and corruption can continue....
That is why the Mayor may want to call the police.....

Law is not a protection; it is a tool that can be/has been/will always be used by amoral, corrupt and ruthless individuals, corporations and/or governments.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 5:58 am

LL he would call the police because a road block formed by civilians is against the law - only the police have legal right to stop vehicles and pedestrians from free passage. I was not inferring the Mayor should call the police, but the husband who asked the belediye worker to move the vehicle should do so.

Lovelife · Post by **Lovelife** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 6:35 am

Morning Tomsteel

I think you are referring to Mrs Harry's post, about blocking their site and ringing the police. My other half only witnessed the tv crews.
LL

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 6:57 am

LL you are absolutely correct. I was referring to Mrs Harry's post at No 47 on page 1 above.

johnerebus · Post by **johnerebus** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 7:24 am

For what it will be worth (?) I contacted the BBC with the story so far hoping they might be interested.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 7:56 am

A request, please to anybody seeing a belediye blockade of an estate. Can you please take a photograph of it with as much detail as possible shown and then either PM or email it to me? A Cypriot newspaper and a local website owner are keen to report this illegal act, but want a picture as proof. Thanks in advance.

Art · Post by **Art** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 9:23 am

Has anyone reported the blockades to the local police?

helendj · Post by **helendj** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 10:41 am

We've just heard from our water chap who tells us that as from Monday he can deliver water - and this will be until 31st December - lets hope the pressure that is being put on the Mayor yields results and we're not expected to pay exhorbitant prices for the pipes/meters.

carrierbag · Post by **carrierbag** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 11:59 am

Seems, as of Monday, water will be delivered until end of Dec....result!

Art · Post by **Art** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 1:26 pm

Common sense prevails - at last.

But I don't think the mayor did this voluntarily.

Fesenjan123 · Post by **Fesenjan123** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 1:49 pm

Neither do I. I also think he will be put under pressure to do his sums again.

gripon · Post by **gripon** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 2:03 pm

I wonder what the construction/investors/estate agents to include Carringtons and all those associated within the property market ,will they sit back to be dictated to whilst desperately trying to sell in this area ? ??

waddo · Post by **waddo** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 3:02 pm

Their best bet is to include the price of connection/meter in the sales price, minor cost in the big picture but don't think that would ever happen - its a bit like trying to get the truth over Kocan's and any outstanding court orders or mortgages on the properties!

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Fri 04 Nov 2016 3:32 pm

The consensus view is that the developers and builders are in league with the Mayor as he can make life impossible for them within his area if they do not do as he wants. Further, the management company looking after Turtle Bay have sent residents a letter stating that Turel Oksuzoglu (a local government officer from the Ministry of the Interior) and she told them the Mayor can stop tanker deliveries as agreed by the Council of Ministers.

gripon · Post by **gripon** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 7:53 am

I was informed last night by a reliable source that the water tanker ban has been lifted also the bank has frozen Belediyesi bank account if this is the case then monnies paid to the Belediyesi cannot be paid into their account .

BURTONS808 · Post by **BURTONS808** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 11:43 am

Can anyone confirm the exact state of play have been informed one must pay directly to the Belideyesi 50% plus £100......so how can one pay.

Hence I suppose the lifting of the tanker ban very confusing ...
Was working out cost of flights against late payment charges!
Merry Christmas

Keithcaley · Post by **Keithcaley** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 12:10 pm

BURTONS808 wrote:Can anyone confirm the exact state of play have been informed one must pay directly to the Belideyesi 50% plus £100......so how can one pay.

Hence I suppose the lifting of the tanker ban very confusing ...
Was working out cost of flights against late payment charges!
Merry Christmas

Post him a cheque

waddo · Post by **waddo** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 12:21 pm

Don't send him a cheque no matter what else you do. Cheques here are treated as currency - like a big bank note - and passed from hand to hand to hand until finally cashed maybe years later. Ask him for the Belideyesi bank details and transfer the money direct to that account - that way you have a record of payment and he can't get his sticky fingers on actual cash!

BURTONS808 · Post by **BURTONS808** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 12:48 pm

Waddo I think that was tongue in cheek response of his account is frozen why would I risk sending the dosh there.

Reference locals getting on side is it not the case the Belideyesi workers have not been paid for three months and I thought 65% work for the Belideyesi why would they be "on side" not in their interest.

Now we have a T.C living on our site and they have been told to pay exactly the same amount as us.
So where is this discrimination?
Was all set to return to sort ourselves out think I hold on till I get some definitive answers ...
Tom have you any concrete answers.

Facts guys not hearsay would be good...

Happy Days..

Gumbo · Post by **Gumbo** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 1:31 pm

I'm sorry, but I am really not happy about boycotting local business and charities. I have lived in Esentepe for many years now and have received nothing but kindness, help and advice from people in the Yapi market, Remzi and Ali at Kuzzy bar to name but a few. Do you honestly think the mayor will take a U turn if we boycott these people. As for the local charities, why should they not receive our support, after all you never know when we may need their help and how would we feel at a time of need if they refused to help because we had not supported them. I really would like to help people suffering from the gross arrogance and stupidly of the mayor, but to punish locals and charities just does not sit right with me.

BURTONS808 · Post by **BURTONS808** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 1:43 pm

Hi Gumbo,
Do you actually live in the village?

Geoff1131 · Post by **Geoff1131** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 1:51 pm

Gumbo, I also have heard calls to boycott businesses and charities in the Esentepe area. While I do not agree with this as you point out, it is the mayor not business owners who can alter this if he so wishes. On the other hand, I like many other retired folk only have a finite amount of money. And after I pay this large payment I will try to recover the money taken from my savings, by saving money as best I can until I am back to the level I am at now. Therefore I will not have the money to spend in the local bars restaurants and shops etc. So I suppose I will be operating a sort of boycott myself.

Geoff.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 1:56 pm

Gumbo, I respect your right to your view. However, expats have no voice or voting rights in mayoral elections, whereas locals do. If the local business, schools and charities realise just how much we support them, but disapprove of their elected leader's actions, maybe then they'll vote him out. Community spirit cannot just be a one-way traffic.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 2:02 pm

Burton, facts are hard to come by. I do know that conversion to the new meters for those in the village cost 350 YTL earlier with no deposit of £100 or infrastructure costs of 2200 YTL. What are we paying an annual property tax for?

johnerebus · Post by **johnerebus** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 6:34 pm

Mehmet Erkol a retired teacher living in Esentepe on the Lapis site is leading a campaign against Esentepe municipality and it’s baskan Cemal Erdogan. On Friday he had a court hearing booked to try and put an injunction on the belediye. As a result Cemal Erdogan backed down on his ban of tankered water without his express permission. However this is just temporary until December 31. From the New Year the ban will be enforced.

Mehmet believes that if it is left without any action we will end up with the same situation that happed this week e.g. guards outside Sea Magic Carrington site and Turtle Bay preventing water deliveries.

Mehmet has engaged a lawyer Ayse Oztabay and is returning to court on Monday with a view to getting an injunction on the baskan so he cannot impose a ban until the court case is decided. His aim is to force the baskan to come up with a fair price and transparency of the process. He wants a fair and reasonable price in-line with other municipalities.

Fesenjan123 · Post by **Fesenjan123** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 6:44 pm

The Mayor's comments in CT that it was the ministers who doubled the price of the meters, and this was approved by the Cabinet, raises another question. Does that mean that the residents of Catalkoy who are not on the mains water, have to also pay this extortionate amount? After all, they have not yet been told what their charges will be but if this pricing came from the ministers then wouldn't it also apply to them?
Also, the £100 deposit for possible future leaks is questionable. Surely any future maintenance/leaks costs would have been factored into the total cost per tonne of the water?

As for the local businesses and their total lack of support for our situation, it seems a case of I'm all right Jack, which makes me feel very disappointed. We have supported their businesses for years so it would have been nice to have a few of them voice their support, but nothing apart from Eddie at Carrington. As TomSteel says, it works both ways.

johnerebus · Post by **johnerebus** » Sat 05 Nov 2016 9:36 pm

For those who wish to email the TRNC Ombudsman the address is... [email protected]

The link to a site explaining the mission and other info of The TRNC Ombudsman can be found at

http://www.ombudsman.gov.ct.tr

carrierbag · Post by **carrierbag** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 6:44 am

http://www.ombudsman.gov.ct.tr/Portals/ ... rm2015.pdf

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 6:50 am

A plea for everybody to use the complaint procedure to the Ombudsman against the Esentepe Mayor's extortionate decision on water charges and his unlawful actions of depriving people of water and illegal blockades of housing estates by non-police force personnel.

Art · Post by **Art** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 7:17 am

Even though I'm on mains water in the village and fortunately will not have to incur further costs I will write to the ombudsman in support of the current injustice.

I do not however support any action which will affect fund raising for charities or local businesses.In my view this is confrontational and apart from depriving those in need will serve no purpose .

I also wish to make the point that many local business's owners in the village are just as outraged as we are and are doing there very best to support the cause so why boycott them?

Rant over.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 8:44 am

Art, you have an opinion and the right to state it. I have exactly the same rights and will take whatever action I deem appropriate. I support the boycott because I think it is right to demonstrate we 'yabancılar' are sick and tired being treated as cash cows and if the villagers are so much in support of us why have they not done anything positive in our favour? Rhetorical and no need for a response.

Lovelife · Post by **Lovelife** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 9:55 am

I wish to thank Mehmet Erkol in his efforts in pursuing a course of action that aims to achieve a fair out come for all those affected. As Tomsteel states we must use the complaints procedure and write to the Ombudsman and voice our concerns. As we all know as foreigners we are not allowed to demonstrate in public so therefore need to use the limited avenues available to us to make our voice heard.

As for boycotting places/charities I feel it is up to the individual and their own personal feelings.
LL

Art · Post by **Art** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 9:57 am

Tom.

I always respect your opinion but sometimes we disagree and that's fair enough.

I must ask one question- how do you know that the locals aren't helping us?

My understanding is they are trying to help not only with the water problem but also with regards to the state of the roads in the village and of course the continuation of the smouldering fire burning from the tip.

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 10:45 am

My opinion on locals helping us is based upon what a Turkish Cypriot (TC) neighbour is telling me. Fortunately for him, he has a well and will not, therefore, be hit with this extortionate charge. He is, however, disgusted at this double-standard treatment and has been to the Mayor and 2 other Ministers in Lefkoşa to register his feelings and hand in letters of complaint on our behalf. It was him who recommended a boycott of local facilities as nobody else in the village had challenged the Mayor or his council. I suspect the first TC who has to pay 5472 YTL up front will then begin a movement of opposition. Whatever, my registration of complaint has now gone to the Ombudsman. I hope it gets a better response than my letters to Esentepe Belediye Başkani, the Girne Interior Official and the Minister of the Interior.

Art · Post by **Art** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 10:52 am

will send you a pm

Pm sent Tom.

BURTONS808 · Post by **BURTONS808** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 4:21 pm

Art you live in the village, so obviously you do not support a Boycott.fully understand...

the butler · Post by **the butler** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 4:29 pm

I am concerned about all this, because no one on our estate has got their title deeds, we have not been parcellised yet. Can the few full time residents on site give permission for the mayor to come and tear the roads up to lay pipes that the land owner has not given specific permission for. Are the owners responsible for paying for all this or is the landowner/developer?

the butlers wife

Becker · Post by **Becker** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 4:44 pm

Does tanker delivery not resume in Esentepe from tomorrow,or have I read it wrong in CT?

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 5:04 pm

Ah, Becker we wait with bated anticipation. However, the Mayor has said he will allow tanker deliveries from tomorrow until 31 Dec.

Fesenjan123 · Post by **Fesenjan123** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 5:41 pm

The following was posted on Facebook by a resident from Turle Bay, Esentepe. It seems these poor people have been subjected to extortion for the past two years by the Mayor and Esentepe Belediye.
************************************************
To Whom it may concern
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Where is the money going for the water which has never been delivered?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Amazing World,
My name is Alisa.
I am writing from Turtle Bay Village, a stunning 400 + apartment and villas in Esentepe, right at the seaside after Alagadi and right after Golf club Korenium.
We at Turtle Bay are paying for our tankers in full (15 TL per 1 tone) being delivered from the beginning of Summer 2016.
We are paying to Beladiye too 10 TL per 1 tone, because they installed card meters and we can not receive water unless we pay to them. ( They did not allow us any option on choosing whether to use the meters or not and warning us with the Police).
The Esentepe Beladiye Mayer every time a resident is asking him about the water is showing great amounts of money which ‘he spends’ (his words) on tankers for us, which has never been delivered!
It is a huge amount for the last two years! Especially as we never had regular supply from them and were forced to order our own tankers from time to time, and since beginning of Summer 16 they closed Karaac pipe and they never delivered any water for us by tankers. We are paying in full by ourselves by our tankers.
Where are these money going to? For the water which was never delivered to us!
Still paying double for our water ( around 25 TL per 1 tone) we have never had normal water supply during last 2 years.
We have water for some hours a day! Some days in a row last summer we did not have water at all, I don’t remember when the last time I had a great shower early morning or late night when I need it most!
Please, SOS! Open an investigation! Check our bills! Check the Esentepe Beladiye Team! Why are they lying on this issue? Where the money going for the water which has never been delivered?
I am a foreigner which fell in love with North Cyprus 15 years ago and moved here. I love Esentepe. I love North Cyprus. I don’t want to run from here like many dozens even may be some hundreds foreigners did.
I believe in God, I believe in justice, I believe in Truth.
I believe there are cypriots who rule this country, who believe in good future as we foreigners do! Please, help us to investigate this issue and many other issues! As we have been paying huge amounts of money every half a year or so and were wronged and are wronged still so many times!!!
We are asked now to pay 600-1000 GBP to be connected to turkish water for 5 tl per 1 tone. That shall be great! But who can protect us and make sure that the Beladiye will give us that water and not close the pipe like they did with Karaac water? And tell to the World that they give us water when they don't? Have a great weekend to all!!!

Kind Regards,
Alisa Dubovik
FB alisadubovik

P.S. I am looking forward to all comments and grateful for any support and help!
-----------////----------
Dear All living in North Cyprus!!! Please, help!!! And share my post!!! We need to share it with as many people as possible!!!

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 5:46 pm

Alisa, complain to the TRNC Ombudsman.

Becker · Post by **Becker** » Sun 06 Nov 2016 8:15 pm

CT paper says tanker delivery resumes on Monday.

johnerebus · Post by **johnerebus** » Mon 07 Nov 2016 2:56 am

Apparently there will be a meeting this Thursday in Esentepe where the baskan - Mayor - will be speaking about the water issue. I suggest as many people as possible go even though it will be in Turkish.

helendj · Post by **helendj** » Mon 07 Nov 2016 6:25 am

Dear Alisa,

Thank you for putting on your post - it describes the type of 'worst case scenario' that I can see happening now - i.e. that we pay a ridiculous amount for pipes and meters, and then to be told later that it isn't enough and he wants more! So I would urge you to send that communication to the Ombudsman (I know someone else on here has put on the link), and also to the Interior Minister - apparently there is a lady who is in charge of all the Mayor's, and she is currently investigating this one - so this information would be a beneficial to her in determining his dubious tactics. Unfortunately I'm not aware of her name, sorry for that, but perhaps another Kibkomer would be able to tell you. Its important that she has all the facts about this so called Mayor to investigate thoroughly.
What this Mayor doesn't realise, or even care about, is the fact that a lot of ex-pats do not have this amount as spare cash (myself included); that we are just cash cows to drain dry - it should be stopped.
Someone else has put on a post that there's a meeting on Thursday which we shall definitely attend - I'd like to see how he wriggles out of this one!
Regards

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