According to Moataz Qattan, the Deputy Minister of Local Administration in the Assad regime’s government, securing housing for those affected by the earthquake is a government priority. However, he added that it is linked to accurately assessing the damage and determining the total amount of aid that will come in. There are doubts about the accuracy of the figures and outcomes announced through the Syrian regime’s media.
According to Qattan, “the aid that has arrived in Syria so far is insufficient to build housing for those affected, and all the material assistance is still ongoing and is being accounted for by the Higher Relief Committee and the subcommittees,” he said.
He stated that once all external supporters who will provide aid have been identified and the necessary data on damages that require funding has been compiled, a clear vision will be presented to the decision-maker to make the final determination. This will help answer the question, “Will this aid be sufficient to rehabilitate damaged buildings and construct new ones?”
He asserted that the decision to be made is to utilize all the received support to benefit the affected individuals. However, the mechanism requires time to begin in an organized fashion, following the identification of all necessary data and figures. According to a statement released by the Supreme Relief Committee established by the Assad regime, the number of unsafe and unsupportive buildings has surpassed 4,000.
Conversely, there are approximations that suggest 29,751 buildings require reinforcement to be deemed habitable, and the number of structures that are on the verge of collapsing or have already been destroyed stands at 292. Furthermore, 30,113 buildings are deemed safe but require maintenance. There are uncertainties surrounding the figures and conclusions disseminated regarding the losses incurred during the earthquake in areas under the control of the Assad regime.
Due to the lack of precise official statistics, the regime’s media promptly invited economic analysts to exaggerate the estimated earthquake losses. This tactic even caught the attention of pro-regime media outlets, with a newspaper affiliated with the regime’s media publishing a report that revealed these implausible assessments.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
