Brave Hearts Osman Yıldız

The full text of the interview of our Chairman Osman YILDIZ in the book titled "BRAVE HEARTS", edited by Yakup ALTINÖZ.

 

Osman Yıldız, Oytaş Yıldız Construction Chairman of the Board:

I was born in Kestel district of Bursa in 1962. I completed my primary and secondary education in Kestel and high school in Bursa Erkek Lisesi. I graduated from Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department in 1985. After my military service, I worked in the construction of a dam(Gezende Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant)in Mersin from the beginning to the end. The moment I finished the dam construction, I completed one of my most valuable services to my country.

 

WE HAVE 500 COMPLETED WORKS IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

In 1992, I started contracting in Bursa. At that time, there was a tradition of establishing a cooperative and realizing residential construction in this way. Every engineer had a cooperative construction, and that's how we started contracting. We built the Zambak Building Cooperative in Beşevler. When we say school, residence, factory constructions, we have 500 completed works as of now. Among them, there are also 100 thousand square meter factory, 3-5 thousand square meter ... We have not done much construction outside of Bursa until today. Only if our Bursa customers demanded, we have fulfilled them outside the city. Currently, we are building only industrial facilities.

 

IN OUR DAY ONE CAN OWN A PROPERTY FAST AND EASY

Cooperatives in Turkey in the 1990s, people were made to be the owner of the housing slowly and saw very little accumulation in demand. However, when we look at the last 10 years of our country, I have to state that it is possible to have a faster housing in easier conditions today. In our country, the banking system has settled in place, and trust has been created for those who manage it. For this purpose, the Bursa and Turkey, both in the general economy, I would say that both the positive developments experienced in the construction industry. Only my company has at least 10 ongoing industrial plant construction. Consider other actors in the industry? There are dozens of contractors on the market and they all have jobs.

 

WE ARE RENEWING MANY FACTORIES IN BURSA OSB

I'm talking about our many projects, Turkey's first industrial zone Bursa OSB is made. Normally, new construction should not be done in this completely filled region, right? What are we doing? We destroy old factories and make new ones. The old ones were made lower than they are now, they do not fit the new and high machines. Now that we have done it according to the old regulation, we break down many of them and make new ones.

 

OYTAŞ SIGNATURE IN MULTI FEATURE REFERENCE PROJECTS

As Oytaş Construction, there are some projects that we attach great importance to. The project of Erikli Su is a reference for us. Completely complicated water project due to bringing water from the mountain, on-site construction of water tanks, bringing water to the factory untouched, making water transmission lines ... A construction project with the creation of transportation conditions ... A construction project with the construction of storage areas ... In other words, it contains all the conditions of the construction industry. You work in very difficult conditions on the mountain. You cannot do business in the snow in the winter, and the damaged sections need to be renewed every year. So this is a very complicated and enjoyable project. Again, we made a very complex project of Durmazlar Makine. A world giant machine factory Durmazlar… An enterprise that produces rail system wagons… We have completed both the fine work of Silkworm plants and the administrative building of Durmazlar Makine. We also built the entire wagon factory. We are currently building a giant business center in Durmazlar, directly opposite the factory in OSB. A machine factory; For example, since larger presses work compared to a food facility, they need to be built much more durable. We are doing very special projects in such places.

 

WE CONVERTED OUR STADIUM TO UEFA CRITERIA IN 65 DAYS

Another project that excites me the most is; five years ago, Bursa Atatürk Stadium was made to comply with UEFA criteria in a very short period of 65 days. This was not a project that would be with us alone. We were contractors, but Bursaspor managers of the time, especially our Metropolitan Mayor Recep Altepe and our late president İbrahim Yazıcı, gave us great support. Our stadium was dug five meters deep and a 7,500-seat grandstand was added. We worked 24 hours a day for 65 days. At the end of the match, 4-5 new doors were opened for the quick evacuation of the stadium, and all VIP stands were renewed. Our stadium, which Oytaş Construction made to comply with UEFA criteria in record time, served for 5 years. We stayed in UEFA groups for three consecutive years and played smoothly in terms of infrastructure.

 

FROM TIME TO TIME, WE HAVE NEARLY 1000 EMPLOYEES TOGETHER WITH SUBCONTRACTORS

We will continue to build industrial facilities in Bursa in the coming period. We started to make steel prefabricated 5-6 years ago. We can produce steel constructions in our facility in Bursa OSB and mount them with bolted-salmon in place. We strive to continue our business life in the best possible way. From time to time, we have close to 1000 employees with our subcontractors. Especially in the summer, our number is increasing, it decreases to 350-400 in winter. This is our core staff. There are too many products for the subcontractors and the industry in the market. In the past, things were going on with a bricklayer, plasterer, tiles and furniture maker. However, now concepts and product portfolio have also expanded a lot. Therefore, it is important to keep good subcontractors within you. Some subcontractors do not work with every company. They are looking for companies like us that will take their money regularly and move themselves forward.

 

EVERY COMPANY SHOULD CARE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AS WE DO

Significant arrangements have been made in the construction industry in recent years. One of them is worker health and safety. We are one of the first companies to implement regulations in this area. We have three engineer friends working within our structure, two of them are Class A Occupational Safety Specialists. We also have an inspector. We do not want our brothers and sisters working in our constructions to have the slightest deficiency in terms of occupational safety equipment. We completely renewed our scaffolds and equipment and made them in line with today's procedure. These are very serious but must-have investments. With the trainings we provide every 15-20 days, we train both our own workers and workers in subcontractors. We regularly visit our construction sites and check that all necessary precautions have been taken to avoid the slightest disruption. Our first look; Are workers' equipment - gloves, hard hats, seat belts, glasses - on scaffolds installed correctly? This situation shows that mentality is developing in our country. Workers' rights are now one of the first agenda items of our country. These features have become a distinguishing factor in terms of competing with companies under the stairs. Firms that do their job seriously and comply with the rules set by the state come to the fore and are developing rapidly. After these positive developments, the contractors also record all their work from the foundation to the top floor. It shows the iron, concrete and other materials it uses to its customers. Now everyone knows what stages the work is going on and when a purchase is made, these issues come to the fore. These were not used in the past.

 

FACTORY BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS SHOULD NOT STOP BUT WE SHOULD BE SENSITIVE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

In the upcoming period, we may have a new project on housing construction. However, we are not waiting at the moment as we are not done yet in the field of industrial construction. We want to work a little more on the industry side. One of our main missions is; The plants are built in a manner that respects the environment and continues their production by prioritizing these value judgments. The factory constructions should never end in Bursa, but these should be done on the plain, not in productive agricultural areas, but in organized industrial zones permitted by the state. We pay particular attention to this issue. We can be the richest country in the world, but what good is this wealth when our rivers become polluted and our fields are gone?

 

WE MAY HAVE PREFABRICATED CONCRETE INVESTMENTS IN THE FUTURE

From time to time, we consider investing in another area other than construction. My two nephews are working with me. We only catch up with our current jobs. Each site means a separate workplace. They all; income, expense, worker, material etc. It is separate. In fact, the best job is what you know. Therefore, we do not plan to enter a job we do not know. My nephews are also the owner of the job. My son is also studying civil engineering. I hope we will bring our company to much better places together. One possibility is that we can build a prefabricated concrete plant in the future.

 

EVERY STEP SHOULD BE CONTROLED IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

Build; It is shown as a business that anyone with capital can enter. But I cannot imagine that the friends who are building housing will be held with the dam builder. Anyone can do housing construction. A pharmacy without a pharmacy diploma cannot open, but anyone can enter our business. In a profession that directly concerns human life, such as construction, you should check every step you take. It is much more important whether the material used is shaped at the right time and in the right place, rather than being very much. For example, if you don't keep the concrete well after pouring it, it will break. You have to do everything right, for this you need to be an engineer. Capital is necessary for contracting… But I would like engineers to be a partner in contracting companies.

 

DIFFERENT FEATURES OF OYTAŞ CONSTRUCTION ...

Our capital structure is strong as we do not invest in any other field than our business. We are a company that provides convenience to our customers at the point of payment. I have already said that we are very careful about occupational safety. We use the best quality product required by the job. We finish and deliver the projects we receive on time. These are some of our most important features as our company.

 

IMPORTANT ADVICES TO YOUTH ...

The biggest disease of our youth; they want to have something quickly. I see this in my relatives. This world has been standing for centuries… Everything happens and develops when the time comes. Who wants to get rich quickly makes a lot of mistakes. However, if he does his job lovingly and working hard, he is already behind materiality. I give young people; I recommend them to love their work, to work hard and to improve themselves by following the developments in the world.

 

I AM BRINGING UP OUR SECTOR'S PROBLEMS IN NGO MEETINGS

There are some problems with the zoning and legislation in the construction industry. Especially regarding local governments' zoning laws ... In order for the sector to improve, these problems need to be solved. For this, IMSIAD, of which I am a member, also works. When we meet with the mayors, we convey the problems of the sector and suggestions for solutions. I am also a member of BALKANSIAD and MUSIAD. I also entered the BTSO Assembly from the 18th Committee, which is also related to our sector. We try to bring up the problems of our sector in non-governmental organizations that I am a member of. Certain arrangements will be made, but it will take time.

 

HIGH BUILDINGS MUST BE DONE WITH WIDE GREEN AREAS

I am in favor of building tall buildings with large green areas in the residential sector. I want the Khans Region in the center of Bursa to be reorganized and opened to domestic and foreign tourism. It should be unearthed until Kayhan. Because in Bursa, this is our most important value that we can show in the name of tourism. The hospital should be demolished, the land will be sold and a hotel will be built in the same place.

 

SHOULD BE MOVED QUICKLY IN URBAN TRANSFORMATION

I believe that urban transformation, which has been the number one agenda item of our country until recently, but which has become very unspeakable, should be accelerated as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is a very slow move. Let's not forget that Bursa is in the first degree earthquake zone. Necessary arrangements should be started as soon as possible within the scope of urban transformation in every area needed in our city, especially in Çarşamba and Altıparmak region.