MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Semsûr (Adıyaman)- The wounds of the people in Semsûr, one of the cities affected by the February 6 earthquakes that struck Turkey, Northern Kurdistan and Syria have not been healed although eight months have passed. Some survivors live in the container cities established by AFAD (Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority). In the city, 60% of the buildings were severely damaged or partially damaged in the earthquakes. Some survivors live in partially damaged houses. There are 13,726 containers in container cities established in 20 different areas called ‘K1, K2 and K3’.

Some survivors live in containers set up by volunteers or in huts built by themselves. The construction of houses by the TOKİ (Housing Development Administration of Turkey) for quake survivors has not been completed yet. Survivors living in container cities complain about the small size of the containers and water leakage in the containers. NuJINHA spoke to earthquake survivors in the city.

Seven people live in the container house with a total area of 21 square meter

Nafiye Esen told us that there are seven people living in the container house with a total area of 21 square meter. “We are miserable and helpless. We are two families living in a container house. We have no privacy because the container is very small. We cannot use the toilet and bathroom because they leak water.  At night, everyone sleeps together. The container house has two rooms. We use the smallest room as a kitchen and a children's room. Children sleep in the kitchen. Our carpets get wet due to the water leaking from the bathroom. We do not know what to do. Adıyaman is left alone,” she said.

‘We all got sick due to the dust’

In the city, workers are still demolishing damaged buildings and removing debris. The dust released from demolished buildings is another problem faced by survivors. Talking about the dust released from demolished buildings, Nafiye Esen said, “We cannot go out due to the dust released from demolished buildings. We all got sick due to the dust. The authorities should find a solution for us. Enough is enough.”

‘I have been waiting for a container for eight months’

Nurcan Şahin, another quake survivor, has lived in the container house given to her mother because she has not been given a container house. “I live with my mother but I do not know what I will do in the future. I have been waiting for a container to be given to me for eight months. I cannot send my son to school because I have no permanent address. The containers are not stable. We cannot even use the bathroom. But we have to live in it because we have nowhere to go.”

‘The container is leaking’

Nurcan Şahin is worried about winter because the container house is leaking. “We do not know what to do when it rains. We cannot take a shower because the bathroom leaks water. People got sick due to the dust. The air we breathe is unclean and the container we stay in is not stable. We have no place to live in winter.”