Syrian Government considers building housing for earthquake victims
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Friday, the Syrian Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, Amr Salem, said that his government is considering establishing alternative housing for those whose homes were damaged by the earthquake of Feb. 6.
Salem told a local radio station that they must first collect data on earthquake-affected people and buildings.
On Friday, the Syrian government declared the governorates of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Idlib as disaster zones as a result of the deadly earthquake.
The government has not yet published final statistics on the number of collapsed and damaged buildings. The majority of people made homeless by the earthquake are staying in shelters, gardens, mosques and other places.
The Minister explained that by designating these governorates as disaster zones, the Council of Ministers will be able to cancel certain projects and allocate their funds to earthquake recovery projects.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a license (General License –GL 23) that authorizes, for a period of 180 days, all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian sanctions regulations.
At dawn on February 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.
The search for victims and survivors under the rubble of the collapsed buildings continue amid great difficulty, due to the lack adequate equipment and freezing weather.
On Saturday, the number of victims of the earthquake had risen to 3.713 in the Syrian government areas, including 1.387 deaths and 2.326 injuries, according to the Ministry of Health.
In northwest Syria, which is under the control of the Turkish-backed opposition, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), the number of deaths reached 2.166 and injuries 2.950.