CHP says paradigm change needed to respond to disasters

ANKARA

There is a need for a paradigm change in the state institutions for a pre-emptive and efficient response to the disasters, the head of the main opposition has said, suggesting a set of legal changes for building earthquake-proof buildings in the country.

“There is a need for a paradigm change in the state. Everyone should live in buildings that won’t collapse from earthquakes,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) told his lawmakers in his weekly address on Feb. 28.

Repeating his criticisms against the government for failing to get organized and coordinated in responding to the earthquakes of Feb. 6, Kılıçdaroğlu vowed to re-design the state when they come to power in the next elections.

“We, as the Nation Alliance, cited this in our joint policies document because we were aware that the government was unprepared against an earthquake,” he said. “The state must be ready against any sort of crisis,” Kılıçdaroğlu added.

The building contractors should have qualifications and they should be held responsible in cases where the buildings they erect collapse, the CHP leader said. The charity organizations like, Kızılay, should not turn into a holding from which the people are trying to profit, Kılıçdaroğlu stressed, criticizing the organization for selling tents to a civil society in the middle of the disaster.

Kılıçdaroğlu also slammed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for asking forgiveness from the people because there were delays and shortcomings in rushing to the aid of the people in the first two days after the earthquake.