Ankara, Turkey – Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes following this month’s devastating earthquakes, an unnamed government official said, quoted by Reuters.
Over 50,000 people have been killed in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. .
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the February 6 earthquakes..
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan who is facing election within months has pledged to rebuild homes within a year.
The Turkish government’s initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion, the official told said.
US bank JPMorgan has estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure will cost $25 billion.
According to the UNDP estimate, the destruction has left 1.5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.
It said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week.
The UN agency said that the disaster had produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.