Turkey Starts Rebuilding Homes After Earthquake Renders 1.5 Millions Homeless

Istanbul: Following this month’s devastating earthquakes which left thousands homeless, Turkiye has started to rebuild homes, an official stated, as reported by Reuters.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said it estimated that the destruction has left 1.5 million people homeless, adding that 5,00,000 new homes were needed.

The combined death toll in the country and Syria has surpassed 50,000, as per a Reuters report. More than 160,000 buildings containing 5,20,000 flats collapsed or were severely damaged in the deadly earthquakes earlier this  month that killed tens of hundreds 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, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Syria’s latest announced death toll is 5,914

President Tayyip Erdogan, who will face elections within months, pledged to rebuild properties within a year. However, experts said that safety should come before speed considering certain properties that were meant to withstand the tremors crumbled in the latest earthquakes.

“For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done. The process is moving very fast,” the official told Reuters under the conditions of anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety.

While tents have been dispatched for those who are homeless, people have said that they have 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 told Reuters.

A group of volunteers called Interrail Turkey are using the school as an aid distribution centre. One of the volunteers, Sumeyye Karabocek, said the shortage of tents remained the biggest problem.