Minister Özhaseki makes statement on 'Istanbul earthquake'

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki made statements on TRT Haber and touched upon the issue of the Istanbul earthquake.

IS ISTANBUL READY FOR AN EARTHQUAKE?

Özhaseki's statements are as follows:

"It is our obligation to be cautious, not to build haphazard structures, and to construct very sound buildings in preparation for this earthquake.

There is a tremendous power beneath us, far beyond our own power, and it does not move according to our wishes. We cannot fight it, we cannot defeat it; therefore, the only thing we must do is to know it, act accordingly, and continue our lives in harmony with it.

According to assessments, there are around 6 million residences in Istanbul. There are also around 1.5 million workplaces. Among these, 600 thousand residences appear to be very risky. They need to be transformed as soon as possible. What is essential for this to be done is urban transformation.

The urban transformation law was actually enacted in 2012. And since that day, we have renewed around 800 thousand of our buildings. These stand solid. They do not carry risk.

Currently, the construction of around 170 thousand independent units is ongoing, and a significant amount of money has been spent on these, but it is not enough. We need to accelerate this. We will rapidly initiate urban transformation in Istanbul.

TRANSFORMATION IN-PLACE PROJECT

Transformation in-place is a project we launched for the earthquake zone. Soil surveys will be conducted, appropriate static analyses will be applied, and engineering calculations will come into play. And as a result, if one builds their house in accordance with those regulations, there is no problem. We told the citizens there that if you want to transform your house in its current location, we will give you 1.5 million liras.

Currently, the raw cost of a 100-square-meter house is actually 1.5 million liras. It may vary from city to city, it may differ based on craftsmanship prices and labor quality, but that is the price. 750 thousand TL is given to the citizen as a grant. We break down the other 750 thousand into a 10-year term, starting 2 years after moving in. Interest-free. It corresponds to a figure of approximately 6 thousand TL per month. There are 250 thousand applications for transformation in-place.

"WE WILL DELIVER THE RESIDENCES AFTER 1 YEAR"

We will deliver 46 thousand earthquake residences by the beginning of the year. Afterwards, we will continue to deliver residences every month. In other words, we will have delivered all the residences within 1 year after starting. We will have delivered all the houses by this time next year.

We will deliver about 5 thousand residences in Malatya at the beginning of the year. We have started thousands of residences. These are the places we started 6-7 months ago. We especially want to build the centers of the cities.

Rough construction has begun, there is feverish work. Architectural groups are working specifically to create a unique identity for Malatya. When Malatya is mentioned, that identity will come to mind.

In the earthquake zones, we are pursuing the construction of buildings with identity, starting from the squares and extending to the surroundings. We will deliver the residences 1 year after starting.

CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT

We have become a party to all international agreements on this issue. We signed the Paris Climate Agreement.

The countries that pollute nature the most are India, China, Russia, the USA, and EU countries... Turkey's rate of polluting nature is below 1 percent."

News Source: 12punto