The Minister of Public Works and Transportation Erhan Arıklı on Monday revealed the government’s plans to privatise the TRNC’s Ports Authority and the Telecommunications Authority.

Arıklı, speaking to BRT, said that a technical team will be arriving from Türkiye later this month to carry out inspections at the ports.

Public Works and Transportation Minister Erhan Arıklı told BRT on Monday that following the example of Ercan airport, the next move on the government’s agenda was to privatise the ports and the telecommunication authority in the country.

Explaining that the privatisation of Ercan Airport had been an important experience for the TRNC government, Arıklı said that the new terminal building, despite the delays, would come into operation before the end of this year.

“We have reached an agreement to launch test flights on October 29 and to officially open the airport on November 15,” he said.

The public works minister explained that the delay experienced in opening the new terminal Ercan were caused by backlogs in the supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that the Turkish government had launched an initiative to acquire the technical equipment.

“Just because there were several problems experienced at Ercan does not mean we should refrain from privatisation. To oppose privatisation is like trying to row a boat against the current,” Arıklı said, adding that privatisation was the trend around the world.

Regarding the plans to privatise the TRNC Ports Authority and Telecommunications Authority, Arıklı said that a team of experts will be arriving on the island on September 22 to conduct a survey of the ports.

Also touching upon the tender for 4.5-5G, Minister Arıklı said that a delay had been experienced due to bureaucratic obstacles.

He added that the tender should be launched in a couple of days.