HERAT CITY (SW) – A number of earthquake victims in Herat province complain about the negligence of the de-facto government and aid agencies in the reconstruction of houses and provision the educational and medical facilities. They say that more than five months have passed since the deadly earthquake in Herat, but they are still living under tents and are deprived of other life facilities.
Abdul Ghafar, a resident of Herat’s Zindajan district, who lives in the destroyed house, says, “In our village, 40% of the houses were destroyed, now we live in the same half-ruined house and spend the night under the tent for fear that the house will downfall.”
Ezatullah, a resident of Guzara district of Herat province, who now lives in a rented house with his six children, also says that he has not been able to rebuild his house due to economic incapacity. He adds: “So far, no house has been built for us; our income from agriculture is also lost. I lost more than 200,000 Afghanis, the cow and calf we had, all remained under the rubble.”
Likewise, Abed, a resident of Injil district, says that he is worried about his children studying in the destroyed schools. “The schools are very cracked; we are afraid that these schools where children study will collapse.”
The earthquake victims demand the Islamic Emirate to take practical action to rebuild houses, schools, and medical centers in the earthquake-affected areas.
On the other hand, the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank have recently said in a report that more than 400 million dollars are needed to rebuild houses and respond to the needs of earthquake victims in Herat.
A part of this report states: “In nine regions of Herat, about 2.2 million people have been affected by the earthquake. Nearly 50,000 houses were damaged in this earthquake, of which 13,516 houses were destroyed.”
These organizations have added that the earthquake victims need attention for education, reviving the agricultural lands, and rebuilding the treatment centers.
However, Zalmai Saber, a civil activist, says that the aid was not good enough to rebuild the earthquake-hit parts of Herat province.
