Turkey begins to rebuild for 1.5 million left homeless by earthquakes
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[February 25, 2023]
By Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun
ANTAKYA/ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) -Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes
following this month's devastating earthquakes, a government official
said on Friday, as the combined death toll in Turkey and Syria surpassed
50,000.
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or
were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed tens of
thousands in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced the
death toll in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night.
With Syria's latest announced death toll of 5,914, the combined death
toll in the two countries rose to above 50,000.
Facing an election within months, President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged
to rebuild homes within a year, although experts have said the
authorities should put safety before speed. Some buildings that were
meant to withstand tremors crumbled in the latest earthquakes.
"For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done. The process
is moving very fast," the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety.
Authorities say tents have been dispatched for the many who are
homeless, but people have reported trouble accessing them.
"I have eight children. We are living in a tent. There is water on top
(of the tent) and the ground is damp. We are asking for more tents and
they don't give them to us," Melek, 67, who was waiting in a line to
collect aid outside a high school in the town of Hassa.
The school was being used as an aid distribution center by a group of
volunteers called Interrail Turkey. One volunteer, Sumeyye Karabocek,
said the shortage of tents remained the biggest problem.
HALF A MILLION NEW HOMES NEEDED
Erdogan's government has endured a wave of criticism over both its
response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of
non-enforcement of construction quality control.
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People warm themselves by a fire beside
a collapsed building and rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly
earthquake, in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, February 21, 2023.
REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
The Turkish government's initial plan now is to build 200,000
apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15
billion, he said. U.S. bank JPMorgan had estimated rebuilding houses
and infrastructure will cost $25 billion.
The UNDP said it estimated that the destruction has left 1.5 million
people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.
It said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds
appealed for by the United Nations last week, adding that it would
focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble.
The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116
million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million
tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.
Turkey also issued new regulations under which companies and
charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the
urbanisation ministry for people in need.
Many survivors have left the region of southern Turkey that was hit
by the quake or have been settled in tents, container homes and
other government-sponsored accommodation.
In Antakya, Saeed Sleiman Ertoglu, 56, loaded up what remained of
his stock from his waterpipe shop that was not damaged.
"The glassware was very beautiful, more than usual, but then we had
this (earthquake), and it all got ruined," he said, after his home
and shop survived the first tremors but not the later one. He
estimated that just 5% of his merchandise survived.
"What can we do?," he said. "This is an act of God, and God’s will
always bears gifts."
(Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Huseyin Hayatsever and Mehmet
Dinar; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Mike Georgy, Editing by Edmund
Blair, Daren Butler, Nick Macfie and David Gregorio)
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