KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Despite his poor living conditions, Bakri was forced to partially renovate his house after it was damaged in the recent earthquake, in order to spare his family from homelessness.
Bakri Hami, 48, a resident of the Martyr Sarhad neighborhood in the city of Kobani, started repairing and filling the gaps in one of his living rooms. His family helped him with this temporary emergency restoration.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey, killing tens of thousands and injuring many more. The earthquake also caused immense destruction of buildings, trapping thousands under the rubble.
Though a multiple-floor residential building and two houses in Kobani in northern Syria collapsed and many other buildings were partially damaged, no human casualties were reported, according to the Earthquake Damage Committee.
Residents of the city of Kobani, whose homes were damaged, are asking for compensation in order to rebuild their homes.
They believe that the recent earthquake led to the destruction of houses that were originally damaged during battles between the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kobani at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015.
Hami says that when ISIS attacked the city, the houses were greatly destroyed, especially those in Martyr Sarhad neighborhood, due to heavy shelling during the battles.
He adds that war has badly impacted the infrastructure of the building since that time, and the recent earthquake destroyed what was left of those houses.
Hami, with the help of the local municipality, will demolish a room on the second floor of his house due to extensive cracks, and will temporarily renovate a room on the ground floor, as he is forced to do so.
In the current harsh winter weather, Hami was staying in a shelter tent. But the temporary tents put up by the city cannot accommodate all the residents who left their earthquake-affected houses for three days.
“We appeal to concerned countries to provide us with aid, especially building materials to help us rebuild and renovate our homes,” Hami added.
He further explained that they don’t need relief aid, as they did not leave their houses like other affected areas – all they need is building materials.
“Renovating these houses is expensive; we cannot rehabilitate houses without help, we don’t have the needed capabilities,” Hami concluded.
Akram Ali, 31, a resident of Kobani, also stressed that the residents are not able to rehabilitate their homes by themselves because building materials are so expensive.
“These houses had been previously impacted by war. At the time, residents reconstructed them according to their limited capabilities. Now the damage is so great that they cannot rebuild them by themselves,” he added.
He called on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), humanitarian organizations, or any party to help them by providing building materials, such as steel reinforcement bars, blocks, and cement.
He believes that taking up residence in tents is not a solution. “The solution is to rebuild these damaged homes,” he says.
Ahmad Kano Atto, 50, who hails from the neighborhood of Martyr Sarhad, said that about 50 houses in the neighborhood were greatly impacted by the earthquake.
The man’s house was almost completely destroyed and it will be demolished by the municipality.
The man himself has previously repaired his house, which was damaged after the area was invaded by ISIS. However, he cannot repair his house now as prices for construction materials have skyrocketed.
“We do not need relief aid, instead we need help to rebuild our houses, especially after the Earthquake Damage Committee has decided to remove my house,” Atto added.
Providing affected residents with construction materials or financial support will be better, as they will be able to construct their ruined houses, he opined.
Constructing a house of three rooms will cost about $5.000 to $10.000, which he definitely cannot afford, Atto said.