The construction of temporary shelters and prefabricated houses for earthquake survivors in southeastern provinces devastated by last month's tremors and the recent floods continues with 2,588 built in Adıyaman, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Monday.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, in cooperation with the Housing Development Administration of Türkiye (TOKİ) and Emlak Konut, prefabricated houses built of steel and equipped with hot water are being constructed on an area of 325 acres close to the city center.
The prefabricated houses will provide shelter to approximately 12,000 earthquake victims and are designed as two-room 25-square-meter (269.1-square-feet) residences, civil engineer and project coordinator Ekmel Karaköse confirmed for AA.
Karaköse told an AA correspondent that the construction of some 100 houses has been finalized so far and that they plan to deliver them to the Emergency and Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) within the next 10 days. Nearly 1,000 workers are working in shifts around the clock to deliver the houses with kitchens and bathrooms to the earthquake survivors in the area, he added.
Emphasizing works to establish more comfortable living spaces than tents for the disaster victims are being carried out, Karaköse said: "Here, as Emlak Konut and TOKİ, we are building 2,588 independent sections. These are planned as two-room spaces, with each one designed to have a bathroom, toilet, kitchen and bedroom. Here, our infrastructure works continue at a fast pace, 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Karaköse stated that by completing the interior of some 150 residences, they aim to deliver these units to the survivors soon. ''We aim to complete 450 more residences by the end of the month. We aim to complete the remaining construction quickly and deliver them to earthquake victims,'' he maintained. Along with the constructed units, the social and cultural spaces within the complex are set to be established as well, Karaköse explained.
At the same time, field studies and damage assessment on the agricultural land damaged by the recent flash floods are being conducted in the Tut district of Adıyaman, Tunceli Governor Mehmet Ali Özkan, deployed as coordinator in the area, told AA on Monday. He noted that through fieldwork, they analyzed the condition of cultivated areas on which plants, including fig, peanut and mulberry, are planted and which produce important products for the region.
Özkan also said that the fields near the streams were damaged more and that in accordance with the requests of the citizens, damage assessments continue.
Adıyaman, one of the 11 provinces severely hit by the pair of Feb. 6 earthquakes that left over 49,500 dead, was recently ravaged by the flash floods that caused additional inconvenience for earthquake survivors, with numerous homes, hospital units and temporary shelters damaged due to days of rain.