I had realized the importance of the “clean beach” phenomenon years ago, when I went to “Alagadi Beach.”
After all, it wasn’t much fun for me to sunbathe among the watermelon rinds and accumulated rubbish around me! And that’s not even counting the umbrella I tried to fit into my car.
I don’t know what Alagadi, a public beach, is like these days; but I’m aware that there’s a high chance it’s still the same.
Besides, I honestly don’t want to get into asking, “Why isn’t the Municipality concerned with cleaning that beach?”...
Because in this country, whatever you criticize, the response from the relevant authority is “a confusion of responsibilities.” No one can set aside the question of whether they have authority. No one says, “There’s a problem here. Others have authority too, but I’ll solve it anyway so that the public can be served.”
This refusal to act has reached such a point that the country has become a tangle of problems!
Of course, it’s not only the municipalities that are responsible for the state of Alagadi and similar beaches! We citizens are largely to blame too!
It’s hardly sincere to criticize paid beaches while turning free beaches into rubbish dumps and blaming the Municipality!
That’s why, before criticizing paid beaches, I’ve chosen to explain the situation with free beaches from every angle.
In fact, I should say that the issues I mentioned above have left me in two minds.
On the one hand, I say, “Yes, we pay, but at least we can sunbathe and swim at a clean beach,” while on the other I say, “Come on, why should I have to pay to use a beach in my own country? Who can stop me?”
Charging for beaches seems logical when you consider cleanliness, maintenance, and so on.
But looking at the way things work in our country, there’s a thoroughly illogical system and an unregulated industry!
And I call this the ‘free beach economy.’
Why? Let me explain...
I have two tickets in my hand right now.
One is issued in the name of “Escape Beach Club Tori Ltd.” It says (in English) “Carpark, Cabin, Sunbath, Shower,” bears the number 126831, and costs 10 TL!
The other is issued in the name of “Acapulco Çağın Ltd.” It says “Shower, Toilet, Parking, Sun Lounger, Mattress, Umbrella and General Cleaning Fee,” bears the number 130449, and costs 20 TL!
I’ll write down what I’ve understood from these two tickets, and try to ask about what I haven’t: • The serial numbers of this type of ticket start at “0.” Using this logic and a simple calculation, by the day I bought those tickets, Escape had earned 1,268,310 lira, while Acapulco had earned 2,608,980 lira.
• The tickets also bear the “TRNC Revenue and Tax Office ‘Document Approval’” emblem. In other words, the TRNC State APPROVES this practice of charging money. Yet Article 38 of the Constitution of that same TRNC State says, “No one may prevent citizens from entering the sea within 100 meters of the coastline, and entry may not be made subject to a fee.” In that case, isn’t the State complicit in a CONSTITUTIONAL CRIME? Where is the judiciary?
• One ticket is in English, the other in Turkish. What was the decision based on? How is someone who doesn’t know English supposed to know what they’re paying for? Can someone who doesn’t know Turkish not enter Acapulco? Is it forbidden?
• The services listed on both tickets are more or less the same! Yet one costs twice as much as the other, and you can’t tell why from the ticket... How are these amounts set? Who sets them?
There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense, and a lot of questions...
But unfortunately, I’m short on space!
You can carry on with the questions...
Of course, I won’t just identify the problems and leave them unresolved!
I would like to offer our esteemed Prime Minister my humble opinion on how all these problems can be resolved: Charging people at entrances in violation of our Constitution must END IMMEDIATELY! Businesses such as Escape Beach Club can continue providing their services and, if they wish, rent out sun loungers and umbrellas. But if citizens want to, they should be able to lay their towels on the sand and enter the sea—which is their CONSTITUTIONAL right—without paying a fee! The same approach could be applied at public beaches such as “Alagadi,” provided that services such as landscaping and cleaning are offered.
With these arrangements, all our beaches will be returned to the citizens, their rightful owners, from whom they were taken by FORCE.
Dear Prime Minister, I hope you will take this into consideration and give the relevant authorities the power to resolve the problem... In doing so, you will put an end to this CONSTITUTIONAL crime in which your government is complicit, and bring an end to the “free beach economy” and this lack of oversight!
Yours sincerely...
Hope to see you on Tuesday...
Pay attention to your surroundings, keep them clean, and be considerate in traffic!