Officials imposed 350 mln Turkish Liras of fine on polluters last year

ISTANBUL

Officials from the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry conducted a record number of inspections last year to identify companies creating the most pollution, issuing a total of 350 million Turkish Liras in fines.

More than 56,000 checks were carried out in the country’s all 81 provinces to identify companies and facilities polluting the air and water and breaching other regulations in the environment law.

As a result of those inspections, authorities found that a total of 3,942 facilities violated the environmental regulations and issued administrative fines amounting to 350.2 million liras.

Also, 406 establishments were ordered to halt operations as their activities polluted the environment.

The breakdown of the data shows that 761 administrative actions were taken to prevent pollution stemming from waste and nearly 160 million liras of fines were imposed on violators, while another 33 million liras in fines were issued for air pollution related cases.

The authorities also fined facilities and establishments 67 million liras for polluting water in 575 administrative actions.

Additionally, 3.6 million worth of fines were imposed in 411 administrative actions related to noise pollution.

Last year, the government renamed the Environment and Urbanization Ministry to the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry.