Turkey to build 10,000 residences in Elazığ district

Turkey readies itself to accelerate urban transformation projects as some 10,000 residences for a satellite city will be constructed in the quake-hit eastern Elazığ province's Yemişlik district.

The magnitude 6.8 quake of Jan. 24 caused 37 deaths in Elazığ province, about 550 km (340 miles) east of Ankara, and four in neighboring Malatya.

During a press conference with ministers on Jan. 28, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said the construction of 3,850 residences have started. The demolishment of high-risk buildings also commenced, the minister said.

According to the figures Kurum provided, officials have detected 458 heavily damaged and 296 moderately damages buildings in Elazığ's central, Sivrice and Madem districts.

The remaining districts and neighborhoods have damaged buildings as well, and as soon as works are finalized, 300 residences will be built in Elazığ's Mustafa Paşa neighborhood.

As for Yemişlik district, 10,000 residences are planned to be built in scope of a to-be built satellite city, the minister conveyed.

In Sivrice, some 350 residences are planned to be constructed, he added. Kurum also said that 200 residential houses are planned to be built on a 10,242 square meter area in the Sürsürü neighborhood.

There are villages affected from the deadly quake, according to the minister. For the villages, a project for agriculture as well as residences will also be conducted, Kurum said.

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