Our round of local news snippets.

Fethiye Council supports young girl

Fethiye Police played Santa this week when they delivered a brand new computer system to a young girl in Kara洬ha who suffers from brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfect) and is unable to attend school. 

Her father was overjoyed saying “She wants to learn so much, we couldn’t afford the computer and now she can really start to learn.”

Ölüdeniz Flood Damage

And the aftermath of the recent flooding is still being dealt with in Ölüdeniz where hotels and shops are trying to clean out mud from basements and ground floors.

Apparently they are throwing away furniture and bedding which became waterlogged and caked in mud.

One hotel owner says he has around 200 thousand lira’s worth of damage.

A shop owner is out of pocket by 50 thousand lira as his stock was ruined by the flood waters. Unfortunately he wasn’t insured.

Not a good start to a new year and a new tourist season.

Failure to Plan

The Regional Director of Muğla Chamber of Trade & Industry announced that 2,300 small shops and businesses had closed down in the region during 2008.

Marmaris headed the list with 418 closures with Fethiye second on 368.

One ex-shopkeeper blamed it on the supermarkets but, interestingly, the Director seems to hit the nail on the head when he says:

“People wanting to set up a business must learn that it takes about two years preparation to plan, find the right premises and get all necessary licences and permissions.  They can’t just rent space and start selling.”

Wise words for any one whether foreign or local thinking of setting up a business in the area.