Lawyer stands guard over rubble

HATAY

A lawyer has been on guard around the rubble of the service building of Hatay Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change for 21 days, delivering the official documents he finds to the prosecutor’s office.

Ömer Meşe, a lawyer registered with the Istanbul Bar Association, is trying to protect many files in the rubble of Hatay Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change’s building consisting of four sections, one of which was damaged by the quakes and one of which was demolished.

Meşe has managed to recover several official documents from the rubble, including building inspection reports, concrete analysis and earthquake resistance test results, and delivered them to the prosecutor’s office.

Stating that all the wet-ink signature documents needed for the identification of those responsible for the collapsed buildings are somewhere in that rubble, Meşe said that he has so far delivered 500 files and loads of documents to the prosecutor’s office.

He estimated there were at least 10 times more files and official documents in the rubble than he had collected.

Stating that he has not yet received a response to his request to move the rubble to a sheltered area and to protect the documents, Meşe drew attention to the weather forecast in Hatay.

He warned that all these documents will be destroyed and his efforts will be in vain if the rain and winds increase their impact.

Meşe said he brought kilograms of tarpaulins from Adana to protect the official documents but noted that they were still not enough.

Calling for help to protect the rubble and to sort all the files, Meşe said he is looking for volunteers as no officials have been assigned there and none of his coworkers are willing to help.