Headquarters of the "Kura" calls to investigate the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) in the earthquake zone.

Staff of civil society "Kura" held press-conferences on the situation in the earthquake zone in May and September, 2012 in the north-western regions of Azerbaijan - Zagatala, Gakh and Balakan.

Coordinator of Staff "Kura", Oktay Gyulalyev, said that the recent statements of the representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations MES), makes questionable the conclusions about the situation in the earthquake zone, prepared by the headquarters two months ago.

In mid-February, the headquarters of "Kura" conducted monitoring, which revealed serious violations of the law, as well as reporting on the aftermath of the earthquake. Monitoring has shown that the statements of the Head of MES, Kemaleddin Heydarov, on January 7, that 2984 houses and 22 schools would be built before the end of 2012, were not true.  Later, the ministry admitted that the figures were wrong, and today almost all work has been frozen due to lack of funds.

"The public knew only about 320 million manat being allocated by the state for recovery and, just now Emergencies Ministry admitted that 420 million manat had been allocated," said Gyulalyev. Despite such a sum, the work in the earthquake zone has been frozen due to lack of funds and building materials.

On the basis of the monitoring conducted by MES, 5725 homes need repair; 2707 houses were repaired in Zagatala; in Gakh - 274, in Balakan - 196 homes, and the construction of 1,915 homes is still under way.  For now 24 schools for 59,000 students and one kindergarten for 55 children were put into operation: 11 schools for 3,360 students and one kindergarten for 55 seats - in Zagatala, two schools for 380 seats - in Balakan and nine schools for 1,300 pupils - in Gakh region. It is planned to build, in a short period of time, nine schools in Zagatala, two in Gakh, and one in Sheki.

However, the cost of the works has been greatly exaggerated, and the construction was accompanied by high corruption, embezzlement of funds, and violation of workers' rights. According to official statements of MES, one square meter is built for as low as 600-800 manat, or the cost of houses is estimated at 60,000 -80,000 manat.  However, the staff have documents in hand in which it is noted that the cost of a two-room house is estimated at 7,800 manat and a three-room – 11,300 manat.

In this regard, the staff sent a request for information to the Ministry of Emergency Situations on the value of homes, the criteria for selection of contractors and the approach to the assessment of damages, etc.

Journalists Afghan Mukhtarly and Nasimi Sharafkhanli cited a number of examples of the false reports of the MES. According to them, people are tired of fraud on the part of the state.

A resident of Zagatala region, Tahir Chobanov, by his own example showed the attitude of the MES to the victims. In May 2012, his house was declared an emergency and demolished, but a new house has not yet been built, and he has had to rent an apartment. According to him, there are many defrauded people.

The participants of the press conference called on the State Commission against Corruption, the Office for Combating Corruption under the Prosecutor General's Office to begin an investigation of MES activity in the quake zone, and the Kura flood in 2010.

In general, for the elimination of the consequences of these disasters 1.1 billion manat has been allocated, much of which has been embezzled.—0—