Large grain center to revive southeast town

MARDİN - Anatolia News Agency

Some 245 entrepreneurs joined forces for a grain trade center in Kızıltepe as the existing grain market there was failing to meet the demand, says Şerif Öter. AA photo

A large grain trade center, the Middle East’s biggest one according to officials, in the Kızıltepe town of the underdeveloped southeastern province of Mardin is set to become operative in three months.

A total of 187,000 tons of grains will be stored in a modern facility at the center, which is being established on a 213,000 square-meter area. When completed, the center will be comprised of 542 workplaces and 52 social facilities, employing nearly 3,000 people.

Some 245 local businessmen joined forces to establish the new grain center.

The capacity of the center is planned to be particularly large, as the province will soon have access to the Southern Anatolia Project (GAP), which will enable the increased irrigation of fertile land and thus increase grain production, Şerif Öter, a local businessman and head of a local grains association, told Anatolia news agency. The facility cost 25 million Turkish Liras in addition to a 4 million lira worth mosque for 1,500 people, he said. The transport industry in the town will also benefit from the center, he said.