PROJECT BRIEF
BACKGROUND: On August 17, 1999 an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale devastated the Marmara region of Turkey. Over 17,000 lives were lost, an estimated 200,000 people were made homeless in the region, and Turkey's industrial heartland was extensively damaged. A major reconstruction effort and recovery plan was needed, in addition to a mechanism to reduce the costs of future natural disasters. The MEER project was developed to address both the short term objective of reconstruction, and long term preparedness against future disasters.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: The main objectives of the project was to restore the living conditions in the region of Turkey devastated by the August 17, 1999 Marmara earthquake. Additionally, the affected region needed to be stimulated by a resumption of growth and supported by economic recovery as well as the development of an institutional framework for disaster risk management and mitigation.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The following components constitute the MEER project:
Component A1 - Emergency Management and Response System: Activities envisaged in this component include the design and implementation of a restructured emergency management and response system. This system, developed through institutional strengthening at each level, includes activities for disaster prevention, mitigation, planning, and public awareness. Central to this system is the creation of a comprehensive emergency management structure for the coordination and integration of related activities.
Component A2 - Disaster Insurance Scheme: The principal development objective of this component is establishing and expanding national catastrophic risk management and risk transfer capabilities through an Earthquake Insurance Program. This component, designed to provide technical and financial support to the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP), was established as the national sole-source provider of earthquake insurance for Turkey. The component objective is, in the event of future disasters, to enhance financial preparedness, reduce government fiscal exposure and, through TCIP, make readily available liquidity to insured homeowners.
Component A3 - Land Use Planning and Enforcement of Construction Codes: In order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards, this component supports the review of ongoing modifications in the current legal system and strengthening the municipal capability to regulate, plan and implement disaster resistant development. The goal of the municipal project pilot is to develop the risk-based master plans, establish a means for effective building code implementation plus hazard and vulnerability mapping.
Component A4 - Cadastre Renovation and Land Management: The primary objective of this component is to establish a land information system to support the reconstruction and development of the Marmara region. Specifically, the component supports activities that provide current and reliable land information, facilitate land supply operations such as map production, renovation of cadastre registers and the creation of a data base for cadastral information.
Component B - Trauma Program: Activities within this component are concentrated on policy development, including the design of a National Mental Health Strategy. This strategy places special emphasis on emergency preparedness, public information campaigns, strengthening management and administration of mental health programs at central and local levels, emergency response training for health teams and the implementation of mental health treatment and counseling in community-based mental health programs. The component also supports strengthening of emergency response capacities of the health units in the Marmara region.
Component C - Construction of Permanent Housing: The main objective of this component is to assist the Government of Turkey, following upgraded construction standards, in the reconstruction of permanent housing and health facilities for the urban and rural areas affected by the earthquake.
IMPLEMENTING and MONITORING: The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) is responsible for the overall implementation of the project. It is established within the Prime Minister’s office and managed by a Director who reports directly to the Undersecretary of the Prime Minister. The PIU works closely with the government agencies involved in the implementation of the respective components, pursuant to the protocols signed between the parties. The PIU monitors implementation process and prepares reports which are transmitted to the Bank. Particular attention is given to the financial and procurement operations and the environmental and social monitoring.
BENEFITS: Those displaced persons forced to live in tent communities after the disaster will be less vulnerable to future earthquakes and benefit directly from new construction built to improved standards. It has been shown that the majority of the tent camp residents belong to the lowest socio-economic group, therefore these measures will have a direct impact on the poorest members of the community.
Major public benefits from the project can also be expected nation-wide, including (i) the strengthening of government capacity for rapid response to citizen priority needs, when confronted with natural disasters; (ii) the development of a national catastrophic insurance plan designed to shift the financial burden of infrastructure and housing reconstruction from government and individuals to international re-insurers, capital markets and the Turkish Catastrophic Insurance Pool; and (iii) increased responsibility of the citizenry, empowered through heightened awareness of those issues which determine their safety and well being.
PROJECT STATUS: The project finished the housing reconstruction efforts by completion of about 12,000 urban and rural housing units. In addition, the necessary on-site and off-site infrastructure financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) is in place. Furthermore, there are over 2.5 million active earthquake insurance policies, which were issued through the Turkish Catastrophic Insurance Pool (TCIP). An emergency coordination and preparedness structure, the Turkish Emergency Management Agency (TEMAD), was formally created in June 2000, and is currently in the process of establishing of a state-of-the-art national emergency coordination center equipped with the adequate emergency management information and communications systems. The project will close by December 31, 2006.
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