Turkey starts construction of housing for earthquake victims
2023.02.25 02:58
Turkey starts construction of housing for earthquake victims
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – A government official said on Friday that Turkey has started rebuilding homes after the devastating earthquakes this month. This came as the death toll in Turkey and Syria surpassed 50,000.
In the earthquakes on February 6 that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria, more than 160,000 buildings housing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged.
On Friday night, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced that the number of earthquake-related deaths in Turkey had increased to 44,218.
The latest death toll from Syria, 5,914, brought the combined death toll from the two countries above 50,000.
Although experts have advised the authorities to prioritize safety over speed, President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year in anticipation of an upcoming election. In the most recent earthquakes, some buildings that were designed to withstand tremors gave way.
Tenders and contracts have been entered into for a number of projects. Under oath, the official stated, “The process is moving very quickly,” adding that safety would not be compromised.
Tents for the many homeless, according to the authorities, have been sent out, but people have said they can’t get to them.
“I’ve got eight kids. Tents are our home. The tent’s top is covered in water, and the ground is damp. “We are asking for more tents, but they don’t give them to us,” said Melek, 67, who was standing in line to get aid outside of a Hassa high school.
Interrail Turkey, a volunteer group, was using the school as a distribution center for aid. Sumeyye Karabocek, a volunteer, stated that the greatest issue remained the lack of tents.
Half a million new homes are needed, and Erdogan’s government has been criticized for its response to the devastation and for what many Turks say was years of construction quality control not being enforced.
He stated that the initial plan for the Turkish government is to construct 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:) had estimated that it would cost $25 billion to rebuild houses and infrastructure.
The UNDP estimated that 1.5 million people were left homeless as a result of the destruction, and 500,000 new homes were required.
It stated that it had requested $113.5 million out of the $1 billion in funds that the United Nations had requested last week and that it would use this money to remove mountains of debris.
The UNDP estimates that between 116 million and 210 million tons of debris were left over from the disaster, compared to 13 million tons left over from the 1999 earthquake in northwest Turkey.
Companies and nonprofit organizations can now build workplaces and homes to donate to Turkey’s urbanization ministry for those in need under new rules.
Many survivors have either relocated to tents, container homes, or other government-sponsored housing after leaving the quake-hit region of southern Turkey.
Saeed Sleiman Ertoglu, 56, moved his damaged but remaining inventory from his waterpipe shop to Antakya.
He said, “The glassware was very beautiful, more than usual, but then we had this (earthquake), and it all got ruined,” after his shop and home survived the first earthquake but not the subsequent one. He estimated that only 5 percent of his products were salvaged.
“How can we proceed?” He stated: This is God doing something, and God’s will always gives gifts.”
