Following the powerful earthquakes that struck Türkiye's southeast on Feb. 6, tent cities and shipping containers have been erected at more than 500 locations for earthquake survivors, the country's vice president said Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference at the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), Fuat Oktay said tent cities were established in 354 regions with 437,613 tents and 21,714 containers installed at 240 locations. He noted that each container and tent was labeled and numbered as a dwelling.
Oktay, accompanied by Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin and AFAD President Yunus Sezer, gave information about the works carried out after the Kahramanmaraş centered earthquakes stating that 360-degree coordination continues in quake-affected areas.
He said TL 30.8 billion ($1.5 billion) were sent by AFAD to provinces affected by the earthquakes and TL 22.3 billion by public institutions and organizations.
"In the disaster area and outside the disaster area, in tents, containers, dormitories, hotels, public guesthouses, school facilities, and other facilities, a total of 2.19 million citizens are provided with accommodation services," he said. Oktay said more than 1.37 million survivors were given TL 10,000 per household as an emergency support payment.
"Also, 261,757 families received TL 15,000 in relocation aid. Payment procedures are still in place," he said.
"Furthermore, in order to restart manufacturing in our earthquake-affected regions, we will finish the workplaces we have planned in our provinces as soon as possible. Now, a total of 8,825 jobs are planned in Kahramanmaraş, 3,595 in Malatya, 155 in Osmaniye, 585 in Adiyaman, 300 in Gaziantep and 2,740 in Hatay," he said.
"We stand with the laborers in this tough moment with the consciousness of being a social state, and we will continue to do so," Oktay added. He said 1.80 million buildings were inspected, and almost 20% of the debris has been removed.
Oktay also said that intensive consultation with scientists in the fields of geophysics, geology and seismology, and earthquake experts was carried out at the meetings held in Istanbul and Gaziantep within the scope of the National Risk Shield Model of Türkiye and that further works in this manner are set to be carried out within 13 committees established under the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.