HERAT CITY (SW) – More than six months have passed since the deadly earthquake in Zenda Jan district of Herat province, however, some earthquake survivors in this district still live under tents, and demand for proper shelters.
Nafasgul, who has lived for 40 years in Zenda Jan district, says that the tent that she has been living in since the last year’s earthquake is damaged due to recent floods and heavy rains.
“They have not built us a home yet. We are homeless. The floods came and made us all sick. The winds blew away our belongings; the earthquake destroyed some, and the floods took away some. We are not being taken care of. We are very worried about having a home.”
Some other earthquake survivors say that a few families have been given one tent, forcing them to live under one tent together with some members of their families.
Mohammad Osman, another victim of the Herat earthquake, says: “We came here from the first day of the earthquake. At first, we did not have a tent for 10 or 20 days; we sewed these cement bags over us. Then the government brought a tent and gave one tent to eight people. We are a family of eleven; men and women, all together, it is not Islamic to sleep together.”
On the other hand, these earthquake survivors complain about the lack of transparency in the distribution process of aid and assistance to the earthquake victims in this province and claim that some villages in Zenda Jan have not yet received any assistance.
Ghulam Sakhidad, a resident of Zenda Jan district, says: “We are deprived of medical first aids; just like we were deprived of our home, place, and life. We are also deprived of the institutions and government’s support. They helped us with one toilet, what other help have they provided us?”
Mohammad Omar, another resident of Zenda Jan district, also says: “We do not have suitable tents; we do not have any place, fuel, and food. We do not have anyone to guide and help us.”
However, Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the official in charge of the commission for dealing with earthquake victims in Herat, assures that with the financial support of domestic and international organizations, another 2,000 houses will be built for earthquake victims in this province in the near future.
Local officials in Herat still state about handing over 4,000 houses to earthquake victims in this province.
Based on the statistics of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 24,800 earthquake-affected families in Herat are still living under tents. According to OCHA, in last year’s earthquake in Herat, 40,000 houses were destroyed, and 275,000 people were affected.
