The ceremony held at the facility located in the Içmeler District of Kumbahçe neighborhood was attended by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Minister of Culture & Tourism; Orhan Tavlı, the Governor of Muğla; Prof. Dr. Turhan Kaçar, the Rector of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University; Dr. Osman Gürün, the Mayor of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality; MPs of Muğla Province, Bilgehan Bayar, the District Governor of Bodrum; Ahmet Aras, the Mayor of Bodrum; provincial and district heads of political parties, provincial and district department heads, deputy mayors, municipal council members and press members.

The opening ceremony, which started with a moment of silence and the national anthem, continued with the speech of Ahmet Aras, the Mayor of Bodrum. Having started his speech thanking everyone who contributed to the establishment of the facility that Bodrum needed, Mayor Aras said:

“On December 29, 2020, the sewage infrastructure and wastewater treatment plant with a total capacity of 20,000 cubic meters per day, which shall permanently solve the infrastructure problem of the İçmeler, Torba, Yalı, Kızılağaç, and Çiftlik region, whose foundation we laid together once again, was implemented with a protocol between our Ministry and Muğla Metropolitan Municipality.”

Ortakent and Gündoğan Regions' Importance Emphasized

Mayor Aras, who emphasized that problems increase rapidly along with the growing population, but a clean environment, sustainable tourism, healthy generations and a hopeful future can be overcome by working hand in hand with all institutions, continued his words as follows:

"Unfortunately, our treatment plants were very insufficient and served only 42% of Bodrum's population, but infrastructure investments that started in early 2020 are now about to be completed and will serve 92% of Bodrum. We are also planning to work on meeting the infrastructure and wastewater treatment plant needs of the Gündoğan, Ortakent, Yahşi, and Gürece regions that are excluded from these works. Again, we are planning the Advanced Biological Treatment Plant by renewing the sewer lines in the center of Bodrum.

Mayor Aras, who stated that they support the Ortakent and Gündoğan regions, which are deficient in the infrastructure of the tourism city, said, "The Turgutreis Treatment Plant, which is included in Muğla Metropolitan Municipality's infrastructure investment of 1.3 billion Turkish liras in Bodrum, is most likely one of the largest treatment plants in the Aegean."

Osman Gürün, the Mayor of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, emphasized the importance of the cooperation with the Ministry of Culture & Tourism in infrastructure works to be carried out in Muğla, saying that "This facility provides an important contribution when we look at the infrastructure investments we have been making all over Bodrum. We are increasing the capacity that addresses Bodrum for sewage and treatment, which is currently at 46%, to 92%. This facility itself contributes around 8-10% to the work being done at the moment. However, our protocol, which is a 27-year agreement, shall increase this contribution two-fold if the Ministry needs it; the contribution will be made within the framework of the protocol."

Orhan Tavlı, the Governor of Muğla wished the Içmeler Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant a good start for Bodrum and Muğla, while Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Minister of Culture & Minister emphasized the continuation of efforts to secure the future of Muğla. emphasizing the importance of wastewater treatment facilities in holiday regions, he continued his words as follows:

"The Bodrum İçmeler Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in 1994. It had not only exceeded its economic life, but also fell far short of meeting the needs of the increasing population of Bodrum and the demand of local & foreign visitors. Because it had a capacity of only 10 thousand cubic meters. In this case, a solid step had to be taken considering the situation of present and more importantly the future. Therefore, we signed a cooperation protocol with Muğla Metropolitan Municipality - General Directorate of MUSKI, taking on infrastructure investments including sewage networks, lift lines and wastewater treatment plants. We inintiated the project without wasting any time. We designed the first phase as the Torba village sewer network and rainwater transmission lines, and the Sewer Collector Line and Connection Infrastructure Works of the Torba, Kızılağaç, Çiftlik, and Yalı Districts. We completed this phase, which covers a total of 42 kilometers, including approximately 15 kilometers of sewage network line, 4 kilometers of rainwater network line, and 23 kilometers of sewer collector line, in February 2023. The other phase was the construction of the İçmeler Torba Wastewater Treatment Plant and connection infrastructure facilities. Despite the Covid 19 pandemic, we completed the work in a period of 14 months and brought the new facility with a capacity of 20 thousand cubic meters to Bodrum, along with an additional 30 kilometers of sewage network line."

After the opening ceremony speeches, the program ended with a facility tour and photo shoot.