Only one geology engineer is employed for all the municipalities in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakır, preventing experts from helping with problems in construction work, the head of the province’s Chamber of Geology Engineers told Amida haber on Monday.
Mayors of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) elected in the mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakır were removed by the government after the 2019 local elections. The municipalities are headed by government-appointees, who have reduced to inadequate the human resources working in local governments.
According to the Chamber’s head Dicle Barç, theere is only one geologist, working at the Kayapınar (Pęyas) district municipality, while a geology engineer employed by the metropolitan municipality has been appointed to another department.
“Our right to inspections has been removed. We cannot support the people. A geology engineer should carry out inspections before a building is constructed,” Barç said.
Diyarbakır is among 10 provinces in Turkey hit heavily by the double earthquake of 6 February. Seven buildings collapsed, 319 people died and more than 1,000 were injured after last weeks disaster.
The Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation has started inspections in buildings affected by the earthquake around 50 buildings have been sealed due to heavy and moderate destruction, but only in one neighbourhood, Kayapınar, Mezopotamya news reported.
According to state news agency Anadolu, authorities in Diyarbakır have so far categorised 377 buildings as moderately damaged, 300 as badly damaged, and ruled that 25 buildings should be urgently demolished.
Several buildings also collapsed in Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens, a world heritage site.
Meanwhile, dozens of people are queueing to receive the bodies of their relatives from the morgue outside Selahattin Eyyübi Hospital, Artı Gerçek reported.
