Pandemic hospital in old Istanbul airport cost public 4b liras, CHP deputy says

The pandemic hospital built on two runways in Istanbul's old Atatürk Airport will lead to a public loss of at least four billion liras in the long run, main opposition CHP deputy Murat Emir said. Emir urged a parliamentary investigation to determine those responsible for the wasted public resources.

Monday June 28 2021 04:13 pm

Duvar English

The pandemic hospital built on two runways of Istanbul's old Atatürk Airport will cost the public at least four billion Turkish Liras in the long run, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Murat Emir said, the daily Sözcü reported on June 28.

The demolition of the two runways for the hospital's construction cost two billion liras while the construction project was funded by a 200 million Euro credit, Emir added.

"Two runways were demolished for two billion liras to construct the pandemic hospital. The hospital construction was assigned to Rönesans İnşaat for 200 million liras out from the European Investment Bank," Emir added.

Noting that it's unlikely for the third runway at Atatürk Airport to be demolished as well, Emir said that the pandemic hospital will most likely be left unused after the COVID-19 outbreak is finished.

"There's mass public loss here. The government loss will amount to at least four billion liras. We demand a parliamentary investigation into who caused this," Emir said.

The deputy also said that the government was being untruthful in its promise to allocate the pandemic hospital for health tourism purposes.