Exactly 46 days after the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes, the first foundations for new housing in the affected provinces were laid on March 23.
With the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Murat Kurum, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister, the foundation of 17,902 houses in 11 quake-hit provinces were laid simultaneously at a ceremony held in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş.
Another ceremony will be held in the southern province of Hatay today. The construction of more than 20,000 houses is expected to start as well.
Since Feb. 21, a total of 40,104 houses have been tendered in quake-hit provinces Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Şanlıurfa, Malatya, Elazığ, Adana, Osmaniye and Diyarbakır.
A total of 6,223 village houses were also tendered in different provinces.
Thus, the construction process of a total of 46,327 houses in the quake zones has started.
The houses will be built under the coordination of the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) together with Emlak Konut and the General Directorate of Construction Affairs.
It is planned to start the construction of 319,000 houses in 11 provinces within two to three months. In 11 provinces, the total number of houses with social facilities and completed infrastructure will reach 650,000.
In a statement made by the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry,it was noted that risk assessments were made for earthquakes, landslides, floods and other disasters in the areas to be opened for settlement and a meticulous study was carried out.
Ministry officials stated that studies to reveal the quake resistance of the ground, which is described as micro-zoning, are being carried out in the region. Detailed geological surveys are also ongoing.
In this process, ground survey studies were carried out in 154 areas. Micro-zoning studies are ongoing on 52,969 hectares in the region, according to the officials.