Landlady: Highway to Hell

I am flabbergasted to learn that the price of my little Turkish house has almost doubled since I bought it four years ago. Although everyone now bangs on about how dangerous Turkey is, normally without having so much as set foot in the place, the modern middle class Turks continue on an upward trajectory, regardless of what cynical Brits think.

The rise in the value of my house is partly due to an influx of wealthy Turks wishing to move south in order to escape the potential dangers and restrictions of the bigger cities. Although our town is small, it is growing at a rapid pace, making me worried that the less than efficient infrastructure will not be able to cope.

Even on a chilly day in winter with a fair wind behind you, there is often no water, so how they’re going to cope in mid summer with 10,000 extra people trying to take a shower I do not know.

The ‘normal’ daily traffic hurtles willy nilly on unmade roads

Without so much as a thought for the great unwashed, the local council are currently turning a perfectly adequate main road into a dual carriageway in order to accommodate the vehicles of these new arrivals. More bonkers still is the fact that this road is being built without so much as a nod in the direction of health and safety. It is being built with the road in full operation and during the peak times, as apparently they’re too tight to pay for night workers.

Peak time, means that the ‘normal’ daily traffic hurtles willy nilly on unmade roads, towards towering cement mixers and steam rollers, while arms of giant JCBs threaten to crash into windscreens. This, of course is all taking place without the drivers adjusting their usual driving methods, which in my opinion are at best lamentable and at worst terrifying. Meanwhile, bemused workers look on in horror, largely, I suspect, because the council are also too tight to buy hi-viz jackets and it’s open season. Well, at least they’re not working at night.