Not much progress seen eight years after Iran's killer quake

By Farshid Motahari Dec 26, 2011, 13:01 GMT

Tehran - It was in the morning hours of December 26, 2003, when, in a matter of seconds, the city of Bam was devastated by a quake measuring 6.3 degree on the Richter scale.

According to official figures, 31,800 people were killed and 120,000 became homeless in the south-eastern Iranian town and its nearby villages. Residents of Bam say the death toll exceeded 50,000.

The then government of President Mohammad Khatami promised swift reconstruction. The same promises were echoed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he became president in 2005.

But eight years after the killer quake, not much seems to have been done in the heritage-rich city, once a trade crossroads for silk and cotton.

'Eight years after the quake, I feel ashamed in front of the Bam people, as the only thing done since the quake is that some main streets in the city have been asphalted,' said lawmaker Moussa Qazanfarabadi, who represents Bam in the Iranian parliament.

'The government has allocated a special budget of 720 billion rials (52 million dollars) for Bam, but not one rial has yet been transferred to the city, and all my efforts to do something about it have so far been futile,' the MP told ISNA news agency.

Although most of the survivors have been provided with 30,000 prefabricated houses, they were supposed to be a temporary solution and. Instead, they have lasted for eight years.

'We have a roof over our heads, but it's not home,' said Reza A, a Bam resident who lost his two children in the quake.

Reza used to be a successful businessman and happy father. All that changed after the quake.

'When you see your house suddenly become a hill of debris with your two kids beneath it, then there will be no much life motivation left,' he said.

Another problem, not only for Reza, but many other Bam residents as well, are the bank loans taken before the quake for residential units and shops destroyed by the quake.

'Now some 42,000 people or their remaining family members have the problem of not only repaying the loans, but also the interest for de facto non-existing houses and shops,' lawmaker Qazanfarabadi said.

In Bam, almost everybody has a story to tell and everybody still suffers from the trauma of having lost beloved ones.

'We can easily say 30,000 or 50,000 were killed, this happens after quakes, but the real tragedy gets exposed when you listen to each case individually,' an Iranian reporter said.