Municipality of Kobanî builds industrial city, residents comment on this project!

ZANA SIDI- DIJLA AHMAD / KOBANÊ

The issue of the "new industrial city" occupied the minds of the citizens of Kobanî, in light of the noise and pollution that is sweeping the city in North Syria, high costs undertaken by the municipality, and the residents see in the project some ambiguity.

The parties involved in the new project, which will contain the shops of the industry, explained how to start the establishment of a "small industrial city" outside the city and the mechanism of transferring shops, the subject that caused a fuss between the opponents and supporters of this step.

The industrial neighborhood of Kobanî

Kobanî have witnessed large population inflation, especially after the constructional expansion after the backdrop of the destruction of the city in late 2014 and early 2015.

One of the city's most noisy neighborhoods is the "industrial neighborhood", which is the backbone of the city, and the majority of the population in the canton depends on major economic suppliers, namely agriculture and industry.

In this street, excavators for artesian wells are made, which are spread in many countries of the world, especially in North Africa, water reservoirs, heaters and other accessories, as well as the repair of cars and machinery.

The situation of the city after years of destruction

The city, which was devastated by the war that turned its streets into rubble, has become a new form after more than three years of fighting in the alleys and streets of the city between the YPG, YPJ on the one hand, and Daesh supported by the Turkish government on the other hand.

After the liberation of the city in January of 2015, and based on their own potential, the city's residents rehabilitated and reopened their shops, which led to the spread of the phenomenon of opening shops in many places within the city, as the number of shops in the city alone reached to more than 650 shops, while the number of such shops before 2015 was about 150.

The smell of fuel, the noise and the smoke of cars, the pollution, the sounds of vehicles and hammers are heard frequently in the shops located between the houses in the alleyways of the industrial neighborhood, in addition to the problem of parking in one of the main streets north of the city, which is a cause of concern for the residents of that neighborhood, except that the Aleppo road southwest of the city contains industrial shops on the public road, which impedes the movement of traffic on that road

Officials make a decision that some see as necessary

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kobanî canton in cooperation with the People's Municipality and some concerned parties, decided to establish a "small industrial city" outside the city, to reduce pollution in the city, as well as noise and accidents caused by traffic jam.

Khalil Abdi, an engineer who oversees the new project south of Kobanî, a project to build a "mini industrial city", says they are now working on the construction of an industrial neighborhood on a land area of ​​18 hectares and will contain more than 600 large and small stores in a preliminary move.

According to the information provided by Abdi, the project will be completed by 2020, and the industrial city will contain traffic management, internal security forces, and municipality buildings, and will be ready in terms of sewage, roads, water and other services.

Expensive cost of the municipality ... and shop owners will pay little

The cost of the project is expected to reach 9 billion SP ($ 20 million), with the owners paying the sum of "1 billion and 350 million SP, equivalent to 3 million dollars" within three years by installments, the municipality pays 85% of the project expenses.

The municipality will give the owners of the stores for up to 99 years, after which the shops are considered municipal property, while the owners of the shops during this period will pay cheap sums to the municipality for cleaning and other work that may be done by the municipality.

In the same context, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kobanî canton held several meetings to resolve the situation of those shops, some of the workers in the industrial and the people supported the idea, while others saw that Kobanî does not need an industrial city noting it suffices to have an industrial street and many other shops scattered between the corridors of the city, this is in contrast to urbanized cities built in an organized manner.

ANHA