You forgave for votes and money, earthquake did not forgive

kahramanmaras The great earthquake in the center of the city once again revealed the dimension of danger of the reconstruction amnesties that have been issued one after another in recent years. During the AKP rule, which attaches great importance to concrete rent and zoning, 8 zoning amnesties of various sizes were issued. With these amnesties, billions of lire were collected from the citizens and the safe was filled and votes were taken in the elections. However, no one looked to see if the pardoned illegal structures were rotten or solid. The citizen’s statement was accepted as the basis. Force
He spared tens of thousands of structures for votes and money, but the earthquake did not. The earthquake brought down the rotten buildings in 10 provinces without looking to see if they had amnesty certificate or not. Experts warn citizens and authorities that all suspicious buildings, especially those condoned by the government, must be inspected.

GREAT AMNESTY IN 2018

While amnesty laws introduced between 2002 and 2018 generally included minor regulations, in 2018, ahead of the critical presidential election, the largest zoning amnesty in history was signed. All illegal buildings built on or before December 31, 2017 were amnestied based on the declaration of individuals. So, for example, the person who had 2 illegal floors in her building, who had a permit for two floors, was given a zoning permit taking the money from her. Thanks to the amnesty, where about 10 million applications were received, 26 billion lire was collected. In his statement to SÖZCÜ, founding president of the Union of Building Inspection Organizations, Tekin Saraçoğlu warned that illegal flats and rotten buildings created by the urban amnesty pose a great risk. Saraçoğlu said: “The first duty of the state is to protect the right to life of its citizens. Saying ‘it is the owner’s responsibility’ in the law does not save the state. Because, according to the Constitution, the State is obliged to protect the life and property of its citizens. In fact, millions of illegal buildings were detected with the urban amnesty. Ciudadanos had almost confessed and denounced the illegal structure. Prior to the issuance of the building registration certificate, technical inspection and engineering services for these buildings should have been provided. After receiving the safe report or if reinforcement was required, urban peace should have been allowed. Since they do not exist, those buildings are in great danger.”

‘Have it checked out’

The president of the Confederation of Construction Contractors (IMKON), Tahir Tellioğlu, said that they did not find the zoning amnesty applied without measuring the technical durability of the general stock of buildings correct, and they expressed this before the law was approved in the Parliament. Tellioğlu, who stated that the citizen whose building has illegal flats should prioritize human life over rent, said, “It is wrong, yes, to give a zoning permit to a building that is not known to be rotten or not. But the citizens will know that there is a risk of collapse of the places where there are illegal flats and they will have them inspected. “I recommend all citizens to have their buildings inspected,” he said.

300,000 missing contractors

It was claimed that there are about 400,000 contractors in Turkey, while, for example, 3,500 contractors in Germany and 25,000 contractors across Europe. Tahir Tellioğlu, President of İMKON, said that thanks to the promulgation of the law restricting recruitment in 2019, the number of contractors suddenly dropped from 400,000 to 100,000, and around 300,000 contractors whose conditions were not adequate had to leave the sector. Tellioğlu stated that no one can contract anymore, noting that it is normal that the number of contractors in Europe is very low and that “Europe completed construction 50 years ago. The population is old and the need for new housing is extremely low. We have a high young population and a stock of at least 5 million rotten buildings that need to be renovated, ”he said.