Article updated: At the first meeting of 2012, there were 30 members of the public present, to hear what the 9 Board members had to say.

They got through a long agenda quite quickly, and then there were some interesting exchanges with members of the public.

KTLN was in the cheap seats to witness the proceedings, and here is our report.

Future Belediye meetings
The first item on the agenda was to agree dates and times for meetings throughout 2012.  Meetings will continue to be held at 2pm on the first Tuesday of the month.  There will be no meeting in August.

They then discussed the amount they get paid to attend the monthly meetings.  Last year it was 48 TL.  The amount has yet to be calculated, but it will probably be around 50 TL.

A few agenda items related to the composition of Belediye sub-committees.  It was also confirmed that the maximum number of staff that can be employed by Kalkan Belediye has been increased from 32 to 35 (full time equivalent).  Up to 20% of staff may be part time workers.

Some Belediye staff belong to a group that is similar to a trade union, (as we would know it in the UK).  They have presented the Belediye with requests, in relation to certain benefits they would like this year.  The Belediye is waiting for national guidelines to emerge before agreeing anything.

Public land below the bus station
The Mayor then talked about a piece of empty land just below the bus station, measuring some 6,500 square metres.  There has been an ongoing issue about the fate of this land, which we have reported in previous KTLN news articles. 

Central government has claimed this land and they wanted to build low cost, basic accommodation for workers - not too dissimilar from the emergency housing in Akbel.

After a great deal of negotiating, there is now an agreement that 4,000 square metres will be left as empty space (a park), and 7 buildings will be erected on one side of the remaining 2,500 square metres of land, which should be able to house 14 families.

The water tank, the road and the wall
The final item on the agenda was also about land.  It's an interesting tale.  Are you sitting comfortably?  Then we'll begin.

Once upon a time, in a faraway village called Akbel, there lived a kind old man.  One day, long ago, the Mayor of Kalkan told the old man that they were bringing a new water supply from Saklikent, and they wanted to build a large water depot high above the town. 

As the old man had lots of land in just the right location, and as he was kind, he told the Mayor that he could build the water storage depot, and also a road to get to it.  The Mayor was happy.

Many years passed, and the water depot worked well, with Belediye workmen going along the road to check it from time to time.  Other local people were glad to have a road too, as it helped them to get to their homes.  They were so happy.

One day, sadly, the old man passed away.  The land transferred to his surviving family.  The new owners decided that as the road was on their land, and it was not a public road, the people who used it, should pay something for doing so.  The owners were happy to sell the land, but they wanted a lot of money. 

The people were not pleased.  They continued to use the road without paying, despite the owner of the land saying they could not use it.

So, one day, not so long ago, the owner built a wall across the road to stop people driving their cars and scooters along it.  The people were very unhappy, and they told the owner so.  Things got a bit heated, and the Jandarma were called out to calm things down.

The Belediye also got involved in the rumpus, because they need to have road access to the water depot.  The matter even got referred to the governor (Kaymakam) in Kaş, who told the Kalkan Belediye to sort it out. 

And this is where the matter is now.  Kalkan Belediye reported at the meeting, that they are trying to reach an agreement on a sensible price, to acquire the land upon which the road and depot are located.

In the meantime, we are informed that the wall has come tumbling down.  Let's hope the matter is soon resolved, and they can all live happily ever after.

Article update: KTLN is happy to publish this comment from the family who own the land:

"KTLN correctly reported my father was a very kind man and was only to happy to help our local community by letting a water tanker be built on the edge of his land. The water tanker is still fully functioning to this day with my families full blessing.

As I have mentioned the water tanker is built on the edge of our land and can be accessed by two public roads therefore there is no reason for any road to pass through our land.

The same two public roads that can be used to reach the water tanker can also be used to reach an ever growing number of villas and apartments being built in the mountains above my families land. The issue my family has is that people are in increasing numbers using our land as a short cut to their properties and not using the two public roads provided for them.

We have tried to block people illegally driving through our land by creating a small wall to block any outside access, too which we were met by violence; fortunately we have video evidence of this. The issue is now in the hands of lawyers." 

The issue that keeps coming back
With the formal part of the meeting over, it was time for questions from the audience.  The only issue raised was the old chestnut of street animals. 

A local Turkish man told how he and his family had their peaceful al-fresco lunch in a Kalkan restaurant ruined by a number of dogs, fighting viciously right next to their table.  Not only were the adults afraid, but some children were upset and frightened.

The man said he is an animal lover, and he has an animal of his own, which is the family pet, but in his opinion there are too many dogs now on the streets of Kalkan, some of whom are dangerous.  He said it was not acceptable for people to have to experience this kind of incident anywhere in Kalkan - let alone in a restaurant.

There followed a lively debate between the man who raised the question, a member of KAPSA in the audience, and some of the Board members.

What will happen as a result of this complaint?  Who knows?  But it is a subject that has been raised before, (always by local Turkish people, incidentally), and we have no doubt it will be raised again.  It's an issue that just won't go away.

Below: Around 30 people came along to the first meeting of the year.

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