MELETÎ - Even though 11 months have passed since the earthquake disaster, the shelter problem of the earthquake victims is still not solved. The only demand of the earthquake victims in Meletî is to move into permanent residences as soon as possible from the containers where they have difficulty staying in the harsh winter conditions.

 

According to official figures, 1,386 people lost their lives and 6,444 people were injured in Meleti, one of the cities where the earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023, centered in Mereş, caused heavy destruction. In the city, which was reduced to rubble by the earthquake, the demolition work of around 36 thousand buildings, which were determined to be heavily damaged and decided to be urgently demolished, has not yet been completed. Housing is one of the main problems experienced by earthquake victims, 11 months after the disaster.

 

Container cities consisting of 28 thousand 643 thousand containers were established at 74 different points for the people of the city who stayed in tents for a long time after the earthquake in the middle of winter. Since permanent residences have not been completed in the meantime, it is unclear when the earthquake victims, who were forced to spend this winter in harsh conditions in the containers in which they were placed, will move to the earthquake residences under construction.

 

Earthquake victims staying in the container city located in the central Çirmik (Yeşilyurt) district of the city talked about the difficulties they experienced.

 

CONTAINER TAKING WATER

 

Azize Aydın (45), who stated that they settled in a container with her husband and two children because they did not have the economic conditions to afford the high rental prices and that their houses were severely damaged by the earthquake, complains about water dripping from the ceiling of the container they stayed in.

 

Aydın stated that they had to constantly empty the water that filled the buckets they left on the ground. Aydın said that they get very cold when there is an outage because they are heated with electric stoves: “You cannot stay in containers for a long time. We want to have a house now. The state needs to help. Even if the house is built, they will give it as a loan. "We will be in debt for 20 years and we don't know if we can afford it."

 

'THEY GIVE A HOUSE BY BORROWING'

 

Hasan Bozduman (58), who worked and could not rent a house due to unemployment, also stated that they wanted to move from the containers they stayed in to permanent residences as soon as possible. Bozduman said, "They say the house will be built, but we do not know when it will be completed and delivered to us. They are already giving the house by debiting us. We have suffered a great loss, I do not know how we will cover it."

  

'WE DON'T KNOW HOW LONG WE WILL STAY'

 

Earthquake survivor Ali İhsan Batar (69), who stayed in the container with his wife and child, noted that although it was difficult to spend the winter in the container, there was nothing they could do. Batur said: “We are not very crowded, but it is difficult for large families to squeeze into the containers. We applied for a house, but there is no progress yet. We don't know how long we will stay in the container.”

 

'THE STUDIES SHOULD BE DONE FOR THOSE WHO STAY IN RENTAL'

 

Earthquake survivor Erdal Aluç (38) said that the container they stayed in with his wife and 3 children was not enough for them. Aluç: “Containers are very narrow in terms of living space. Since it is winter, we cannot take the children outside. We are trying to manage somehow. Containers are not suitable for long-term stay.”

 

Stating that opportunities should be provided for earthquake victims who previously rented in the earthquake houses built, Aluç said, “Since I am a tenant, no houses are being built for us. We demand that tenants be given rights in Mass Housing Administrations (TOKİ).”

 

MA / Mahmut Altıntaş