Flood victims given utility bill exemption in Samsun

SAMSUN - Doğan News Agency

The heavy downpour causes Salıpazarı’s Terme Creek to overflow its banks, resulting in the destruction of one of the district center’s four bridges. DHA photo

Victims of recent floods in Samsun will not have to pay their gas and water bills for three months and their electricity bill for two months, Youth and Sports Minister and Samsun deputy Suat Kılıç said yesterday.

“The residents of damaged buildings will not be charged for natural gas and water bills for three months. They also won’t pay the electricity bill for two months,” he said. “They won’t be charged any bill.”

Kılıç also said houses built on the bed of the Black Sea province’s Yılanlı Stream would be immediately demolished. Many have accused the state-run Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) of increasing the number of deaths in last week’s floods by building residences on the stream bed.

“There are 130 houses ready to inhabit in Samsun Municipality. Citizens who cannot enter
their houses should immediately apply to the municipality. We don’t have any time limit, and the rent will not be demanded. The basement floors of the houses built by TOKİ will be evacuated. We expect our citizens to show tolerance,” Kılıç said.

Some of the 12 people killed in the floods drowned in their TOKİ-built basement suites even though experts said the residences should not include such dwellings.

Meanwhile, one person was killed and two others were injured July 9 as a result of another flood in Samsun’s Ayvacık and Salıpazarı districts due to heavy rain.

The downpour caused Salıpazarı’s Terme Creek to overflow its banks, resulting in the destruction of one of the district center’s four bridges and severe damage to another bridge due to debris that had slid down a nearby mountain. Access to the other two bridges, which provide links to other villages and districts, was closed by the police for safety reasons.

The ground and basement floors of buildings in the districts were evacuated after the rain.

Meanwhile, heavy rain in the nearby province of Giresun caused flooding in some houses and workplaces. Noting that he was also caught in the rain, Giresun Gov. Dursun Ali Şahin issued a statement, saying there is no problem for now.