Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the meeting of the earthquake headquarters established in Zagatala District

- A powerful earthquake hit Zagatala, Gakh and Balakan Districts two days ago. The earthquake has caused major destruction. According to preliminary information, hundreds of homes have been destroyed. According to the latest data, about 3,000 private houses have either been destroyed or turned into disrepair. In other words, the homes that are in poor condition are no longer habitable.

In the aftermath of the disaster the Ministry of Emergencies started work immediately, a headquarters was set up, the situation analyzed and people moved to safety. Fortunately, there are no casualties. Tents were immediately delivered and installed in the region. People have been temporarily housed in tents and the homes of their relatives. Hundreds of community facilities, more than 20 schools, kindergartens and health centers have been put out of action. In other words, it is a terrible natural disaster.

Azerbaijan is a strong state, we have enough opportunities to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters. At present, mobilization work has almost been completed. Heavy machinery has been delivered, extra tents are being brought in. All necessary measures are taken for the temporary accommodation of people. But it is also true that it is very difficult to live in tents. We must try to find a way out of this situation in a short time.

First of all, we must continue analyzing the situation because we don’t have complete information yet. The number of unsafe houses keeps growing, so we should conduct further analysis in the coming days. We must determine the sizes of the destroyed or damaged houses. These issues should be analyzed in conjunction with the owners of houses. It is necessary to determine the exact size of each house being knocked down. We will build new houses in place of the demolished ones.

I have already issued the instruction that the designs of new houses should be coordinated with people. The new homes should be bigger than the destroyed ones. We should take into account people’s wishes during construction.

All the destroyed or unsafe schools must be rebuilt before the new school year. This is a tremendous job requiring large financial resources and technical capabilities. But we must try to resolve all the issues as soon as possible.

Parallel to this, the seismological situation should be continuously monitored. As you know, there have been several aftershocks and, fortunately, the first quake was not very strong. People had time to leave their homes. The biggest destruction was caused by aftershocks, and the tremors may recur. So the seismological situation should be under control. That is, construction and restoration work should start only after the seismic situation completely stabilizes.

All the domestic issues in places of temporary accommodation should be resolved. According to my information, a lot has already been done in this direction. Considering people’s requests, tents are set up in people’s yards. We are granting these requests even though, of course, it would be advisable to set up tents in one place for a more effective and speedy implementation of the work. But considering people’s requests, we set up tents in people’s yards. Also, issues of drinking water and electricity must be resolved. Public places have been defined, we should and we are establishing field baths, catering and medical facilities. So all relevant bodies should go about their duties. We must minimize people’s suffering, create reasonably good conditions in places of temporary accommodation, so that people suffer less.

The repair work, of course, must be carried out in a quality manner. The vast majority of the destroyed homes were built decades ago. Substandard materials were used and technological standards were ignored. New homes, as I said, must be bigger and, of course, of better quality. All technological standards must be complied with, so that people could live there comfortably.

The Azerbaijani government has mobilized all the resources for disaster relief.

Yesterday, on my instructions, 20 million manats were allocated for this purpose. But the situation, i.e. the information coming in shows that these funds we will not suffice. At the next stage we need to consider allocating more funds. There are resources in the state budget and the contingency fund, and we must use them to resolve all the issues as soon as possible. There is a lot of work ahead of us. The construction of about 3,000 homes will require major resources, we need to resolve technical issues too. We must try to restore all the houses in a short time, so that people suffer less. All relevant bodies, local executive authorities should work in a coordinated manner here. To this end, we have set up a headquarters and must do all the work consistently and efficiently.

Underlying our policies is the human factor. Our policies are socially oriented, the reforms ongoing in Azerbaijan are primarily aimed at ensuring a comfortable life.

Of course, helping our fellow citizens in a difficult situation, as always, is our priority. Azerbaijan is a strong state. We can come out of any ordeals with dignity, which is confirmed by our experience. As a result of the mudslide two years ago, thousands of homes were destroyed. These houses have been reconstructed, new settlements built, villages restored, schools and roads established. So we have the experience. Our rescue workers have participated in rescue missions in other countries.

Our rescuers have already demonstrated a high level of professionalism in the aftermath of fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters. We will resolve our problems ourselves. We have plenty of opportunities, tents, field kitchens. Again, to fully address the issue we need to carry out a comprehensive analysis, knock down and repair buildings. At the same time we should, and I am sure we will, resolve all other issues to ensure a normal life.