Government to bring drastic urban measures

ANKARA- Hürriyet Daily News

The urban development drive will cover not only quake-prone zones but also areas prone to landslides and flashfloods. AFP photo

The Turkish government has begun planning legal amendments to evacuate settlements in areas at a high risk of earthquakes and move residents to new homes in the wake of the deadly earthquake in Van.

The main opposition, however, lashed out at the government for placing the entire blame of Van’s high death toll on illegal construction, highlighting widespread local corruption that allegedly led to the licensing of sub-standard buildings.

The Environment and Urban Planning Ministry is reviewing an existing draft law on urban transformation to attach provisions that would allow for the “urgent expropriation” of buildings in high-risk areas, Anatolia news agency reported.

The draft law is expected to be submitted to Parliament by the end of the year. Turkey’s existing legislation lacks provisions to force residents out of high-risk areas into settlements built under urban development programs.

The urban development drive will cover not only quake-prone zones but also areas prone to landslides and flashfloods, mostly in the eastern Black Sea region.

In an outburst against sub-standard and unlicensed construction, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this week that the government would demolish illegally constructed buildings, braving the political risk. Ankara plans to offer residents new homes built by state-run constructor TOKİ in return for long-term payment schemes.

“If necessary, we will fully take over the authority [from local administrations] concerning unlicensed buildings and shanty houses and will expropriate and demolish them without asking for permission from those who have so far failed to demolish them,” Erdoğan said.

The government is planning amendments to two other laws concerning redevelopment and condominium ownership that would allow residents in apartment blocks to make decisions concerning their buildings by a majority vote rather than unanimity, according to Anatolia.

Slamming Erdoğan’s warnings on demolition, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Göksel Tekin argued that no law currently prevented the destruction of unlicensed buildings.

“Most buildings that collapsed in Van were not illegal but licensed. It means that the problem is not in illegal construction but in another mindset,” he told reporters yesterday.

Tekin recalled a deadly flood disaster in the basin of the Ayamama stream in Istanbul in 2009, claiming that no building had been demolished there despite Erdoğan’s pledges at the time to do so.

The AKP had succeeded in completing urban transformation projects in the Istanbul, he said. “It’s obvious that there is no legal obstacle. But their mind is on profits.”

Quake detentions in İzmir

Organized crime investigators in the Aegean city of İzmir started monitoring building inspection firms six months ago after receiving a tip claiming that licenses were being obtained with fake documents.

Police have been able to determine five inspection companies and three laboratories that used false documentation. In simultaneous raids early in the morning, 25 people were detained, including owners of building inspection firms and owners of laboratories that check the quality of building materials and contractors.

Meanwhile, Istanbul’s Mayor Kadir Topbaş said all those buildings built before 1998 in Istanbul had to be checked for earthquake resistance. Even if building construction looked properly done, Topbaş said it should still be inspected. “We will give strict deadlines for reinforcements. If deadlines are not respected, we will enter the buildings,” Topbaş said.