Disaster loss reduction and relief has great importance, as Turkey is situated on a earthquake prone area. Activities related to disaster relief had been carried out under particular acts of remedy, until 1958,when the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement was established.Consequently,in 1964, a General Directorate to deal specifically with these issues was set up within this Ministry. |
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The General Directorate of Disaster Affairs is composed of: The Departments of Earthquake Research, Communication and Emergency Aid, Plannig and Loan Management,Disaster Survey and Damage Assessment, Temporary Housing, Prefabricated Housing Production and Construction, Disaster Fund Management and Supplies.There are also machinery service and maintenance workshops and prefabricated housing construction plants, affiliated to the Department of Communication and Emergency Aid, and the Department of Prefabricated Housing Production respectively. Moreover, the General Directorate has regional storage and equipment centres located in disaster prone areas. The major legislation pertaining to the implementations of the General Directorate is the Act on Measures and Assistance Regarding Natural Disasters Affecting General Public Life enacted in 1959, which had undergone some amendments in 1968. The law determines the protective and preventive measures as well as regulating the activities to be undertaken before during and after natural disasters, and defines guidelines for terms and conditions of assistance to be provided to affected people . |
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In practice all expenditures for emergency aid, rescue and relief temporary and permanent housing and the necessary services are met from the "Disasters Fund" established by law in 1959. The General Directorate of Disaster Affairs is entrusted with the following responsibilities: Providing emergency aid and securing coordination among the relevant institutions during and after a disaster, Implementing the measures to provide temporary shelter immediately after the disaster and undertaking the reconstruction and rehabiliation activities of damaged |
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housing, work places and infrastructural facilities,Taking measures to realise and co-ordinate planning,project preparation,implementation,management and control activities ln disaster areas as well as in disaster prone areas,Determining the potential disaster areas and taking the necessary precautions for preventing disasters and minimising the loss of life and property,Development of seismological and strong ground motion network for the country, establishment of a national information centre of processing of all kinds of earthquake data such as the preparation of earthquake catalogues and earthquake hazard maps of Turkey; determination of measures , construction techniques and design principles for the structures to be built in the earthquake zones, development of methods of repair and structural strengthening of buildings damaged by earthquakes or prone to be affected by disasters including training and monitoring activities, Establishment of regional centres for the production and storage of prefabricated structural elements aiming at the accommodation of people and co-ordination of emergency assistance in cases of disasters. Prepared by Gülsah Bilgi |
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