İstanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management (İETT) will transfer its bus fleet to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB). This has raised questions about its privatization.
Today, following the news on the privatization, İETT made a declaration in which it is stated that “İETT will not ‘become a history’ but will be enforced to become a supreme institution in the mass transit."
TRANSFER OF İETT BUS FLEET TO İBB: FIRST STEP TO PRIVATIZATION
The transfer of the bus fleet to the metropolitan municipality will pave the way for the complete privatization of the bus network for the interest of the capital. İsa Öztürk, a member of the Law Commission of the İBB from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), states his concerns about the transfer of the IETT bus fleet as following:
"In a city like İstanbul, transportation can not be merely conceived in terms of profit-making. If the bus fleet is transferred, since the main objective will be to make profits, the transportation will be more expensive for the citizens. İBB will have to subsidize it. İBB should not withdraw from the public transport. İETT, as a municipal institution, can be audited by the Turkish Court of Accounts. If the buses are transferred to the company Otobüs A.Ş, they are exempted from auditing. This means privatization."
İSTANBUL BUS NETWORK
The current bus network, excluding the metrobus line, is composed of three constituents: The bus fleet of Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management (İETT), the private buses of the İstanbul Halk Otobüsleri A.Ş. and the bus fleet of the metropolitan municipality (İBB), controlled by the company İstanbul Otobüs A.Ş. If the bus fleet of the İETT is transferred to İBB, the bus network of İstanbul will completely be private.
TCA LAW SUBJECT TO SEVERAL AMENDMENTS
Privatization of the bus fleet of İETT will lead to its exemption from being audited by the Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA, Sayıştay), which audits the incomes and expenses of the public administrations. The TCA prepares reports of these administrations and submits them to the National Assembly. However, due to constant modifications of the laws about the TCA, some reports have not been submitted to the Assembly within the period 2005-2011.
The recent discussions about the bus fleet of the İETT reminded the amendments made to the law. The auditing of the public administrations has been discussed for several years in the Planning and Budget Commission of the Assembly. However, ‘the incompatibility between the already existing laws and the amendments’ has been provided as an excuse by the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office.
ERDOĞAN AND İETT
When he was the mayor of the İBB between the period 1994-1998, President Erdoğan was tried on the charge of fraud in the bidding of AKBİL, an electronic ticket system used for fare payment on public transport, which required at least 14 years of imprisonment. However, Erdoğan was acquitted by the judge İsmail Rüştü Cirit, who later became the head of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay).
Cirit had also removed the imprisonment of Erdoğan for four months due to another lawsuit in 1998 from the registry of criminal record.
