Strange defense of contractors: These were the conditions

Adana Contractors Union President Haydar Çakıroğlu said that buildings built before 1999 in the city were built in accordance with the third-degree earthquake zone, arguing that contractors are not the only ones to blame and that administrations Locals are also responsible.

Çakıroğlu said: “These buildings were made of non-durable concrete. Those were the conditions back then,” he said.

‘LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THAT ISSUING LICENSES ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE’

Due to the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, 13 buildings were destroyed in Adana and 418 people lost their lives.

In the city, where thousands of buildings suffered light or moderate damage, investigations carried out so far revealed that 200 buildings suffered severe damage.

Pointing out that the contractors were doing business according to the law before 1999 and that they were not the only ones to blame, Çakıroğlu claimed that the local authorities that issued the license were also responsible.

‘Can you question those who built these buildings? NO, according to us’

Explaining that the contractors are the organizers and that they gather building materials and handicrafts, Çakıroğlu continued as follows:

“Adana was a third class seismic zone. Osmaniye was in the second grade. He would make the project he did in Osmaniye more solid and make it more flexible in Adana.

The seismic zone, which was third class, was changed to the second class seismic zone in 2018. They said that if a column had 30 bars, 20 bars could be put in the previous earthquake regulation. In 2018, with the enacted law, it was said that the two 30 irons will be put on and these irons will be serrated.

All buildings built before 1999 were built in accordance with the third class seismic zone and were low resistance buildings. Can the guilt of those who built these buildings be questioned? In our opinion, no.

These constructions were made with said non-durable concrete. Such were the conditions back then. Although such buildings were built before 1999, we survived the earthquake with the least damage compared to other provinces.”

‘WE WERE BUYING GRAVEL AND SAND, WATER WAS TAKEN TO CUT’

Çakıroğlu stated that the ‘Building Inspection Law’ came into effect in 2001 and buildings built before this date were not inspected, continuing his statement as follows:

“After 2001, the inspections began. The use of ready-mix concrete became mandatory in 2004.

Before we and all the contractors were ready-mix concrete, we would take out the gravel and sand from the quarry in the Salbaş district as they were mined. I was adding some water in the concrete shop, so it was a little runny and could be easily processed. However, the darker the concrete, the stronger it will be after it has set. We were dumping and pouring 6 bags of cement, so what will happen to buildings built before 2001?” (DHA)