Business people and tradesmen in Adiyaman stated that they needed long-term interest-free loans for the rebuilding of the city, which was damaged by the earthquakes on February 6, and that they would give priority to the textile and tobacco sectors for the city to recover.
In the month that passed since the earthquakes in Kahramanmaras and Hatay, in Adiyaman, one of the provinces most affected by the disaster, debris removal works continue, on the other hand, studies are carried out to return the city’s trade and production to normal, and road maps are drawn to return the city’s economy to its pre-earthquake level.
“We demand that our workers’ container problem be solved”
Adiyaman OIZ President Abdulkadir Celenk told Anadolu Agency (AA) that there are 4 OIZs, 160 factories and 201 businesses in the city, 30 of which were damaged and 15 were destroyed.
Explaining that the city was exporting in areas such as textiles, furniture and food before the disaster, Celenk made the following assessments:
“We want a 10-year interest-free loan from the state for factories and businesses with a 2-year grace period. We do not want a grant. We want to pay our debt to the state by getting loans and working and earning. Let the state win, so we can protect our workers. Before the earthquake, we had 22 thousand workers. Now, 50% of them do not start work because they do not have a place to live. We demand from our state to solve the container problem of our workers. We are working to get back to our old situation as soon as possible. We will revive the Adiyaman industry, primarily with the textile industry.”
Shopkeepers want grant support and long-term interest-free loans
Ziya Duranay, President of Adiyaman Union of Tradesmen and Craftsmen Chambers, stated that bakers and markets that will meet the basic food needs in the city and hairdresser and barber shopkeepers operating in the service sectors have started to work.
Duranay, on the other hand, stated that the majority of the tradesmen lost their lives by being under the rubble and that their workplaces were also unusable.
Duranay stated that they have expectations from the state so that the tradesmen can stand up again and said:
“The low-interest loan debts of the tradesmen and artisans who were harmed by the earthquakes from the surety cooperatives or Halkbank were postponed for 6 months, but the tradesmen have debts to the tradesmen. The tradesmen have material debts to other provinces. Therefore, the tradesmen cannot make their payments because they cannot collect their own receivables and cannot open their workplace. Therefore, grants and long-term interest-free loans should be given to our tradesmen under the name of ‘life water’.”
Explaining that Adiyaman is largely empty, Duranay added that the housing problems of the workers should be resolved and life in the city should be revitalized.
“Tobacco producers should be supported”
Adiyaman Central Chamber of Agriculture President Mehmet Salih Sahan also stated that the houses of the farmers were destroyed and most of the tractors were under the rubble.
Stating that the farmers have moved out of the province, Sahan said, “Adiyaman’s main production is on pulses and tobacco. If the farmers are not given containers for them to stay, the yield will drop in these products. Adiyaman is currently empty. These people will produce so that the people in the city will be fed. In order for Adiyaman to return to the level of February 5, especially tobacco producers should be supported. The priority development of the city depends on it.”
“We have vaccinated more than 2 thousand animals with FMD and LDS”
Metin Turker, General Manager of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM), emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is working in many areas from seed to feed, from fertilizer to vaccine to heal wounds in Adiyaman.
Stating that they determined the number of destroyed barns and pens and the number of animals that perished, Turker said that they provided approximately 2,600 tons of feed and tents for the rescued animals.
Expressing that animal health screening and treatment services are carried out in all villages of Adiyaman, Turker explained that they have carried out nearly 2,000 food inspections at 140 points and that this will continue regularly.
Emphasizing that they have made significant progress towards bringing life back to normal in the city, Turker said, “With the regularization of animal husbandry, we are working to ensure that our farmers have easy access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides for summer planting. We aim to be much better if the houses and barns that were destroyed in the countryside are built by our state and the animals are replaced with animals.”
Turker underlined that they are carrying out intensive search and rescue works on the destroyed barns and livestock in the region, and stated that 1,500 bovine and 18,500 ovine animals were dug out from under the rubble and that the burial of the perished animals was carried out by pouring lime into deep pits.
Stating that they applied health screening and treatment to more than 40 thousand animals, Turker said:
“We have vaccinated more than 2,000 animals with FMD and LDS. Our vaccination processes are continuing. We have enabled many of our producers, who want to leave production, to return to production with our support. We follow the process of removing and destroying the drugs under the rubble. We solved the problems of regular collection, processing and marketing of excess milk through producer organizations. We also ensured that 1,678 sheep and 381 cattle that needed to be slaughtered were slaughtered.”
Explaining that the work on seed, fertilizer and pesticide inputs continues with Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, Grain Products Office and private dealers, Turker noted that the fertilizer, seed, pesticide and tool equipment needs required in the spring season have been determined and necessary measures have been taken to supply these inputs.
On the other hand, according to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute, Adiyaman, which has a population of 635 thousand 169 as of last year, realized $82 million 819 thousand in imports and $97 million 263 thousand in exports, considering the general trade system.
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz