There have been 22 earthquakes of significant magnitudes around the world this year. The worst of them struck Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, on Oct. 30. More than 100 people died. Such loss of life is tragic enough but when it is clearly connected to failings that go right to the heart of government, it becomes unconscionable. Uncontrolled, unregulated and unauthorized construction and unplanned urban sprawl have long been a problem in Turkey. But under the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and its obsession with construction, they have become dangerous. Building laws are riddled with gray areas that the AKP has failed to address. However the government’s habit of excusing those who throw up buildings without proper permits or authorization is far more alarming, for it creates a climate in which builders feel they can get away with ignoring regulations with no thought for how they are endangering the lives of their fellow citizens. Since 1948, parliament has passed 19 “zoning amnesty laws” that, on payment of a fee, grant pardons to those responsible for putting up illegal buildings or making illegal additions to existing buildings. It is an easy source of revenue for the government but it leaves the country littered with unfit, unsafe buildings — as many as 40,000, according to some experts. As Murat Kurum, the minister of environment and urban planning, said last year: “Buildings may have been pardoned by the zoning amnesty law but that does not mean they are durable or solid.” The latest zoning amnesty law was passed in May 2018. It benefited 1.8 million applicants across the country and filled the government’s coffers with the equivalent of $2 billion. In Izmir, scene of that recent deadly earthquake, there were about 811,000 applications linked to illegal buildings. “Quality, regulation and supervision are never prioritized,” said Selin Sayek Boke, secretary-general of the opposition Republican People’s Party and a member of parliament for Izmir. In 1999 an earthquake in Golcuk, a town on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, killed more than 18,000 people according to official figures, though unofficial reports put the true figure at more than 45,000. Investigations into the disaster revealed that 120,000 houses that were damaged beyond repair were poorly engineered. The need for building contractors to be properly qualified and regulated had never been more clear or more pressing. But little changed. For would-be contractors to acquire a certificate of competence, they need three things: A clean criminal record, an application form and about $300. There is no mention of training or qualifications in the requirements. This goes some way to explaining why Turkey has 454,000 licensed contractors while Germany, a country of similar size and population, has only 274,000. The bodies of 34 people buried in the ruins of the Riza Bey apartment block in Izmir last month attest to the Wild West-style lawlessness prevalent in Turkey’s construction industry. The eight-story block was built on marshland and an investigation revealed that the wrong materials were used in its construction. The complete lack of checks on building companies and the absence of any enforcement of building regulations are the main issues that crop up every time there is an inquiry into a tragedy such as Riza Bey. Opposition politicians have tabled 58 motions since 2003 calling for the establishment of a buildings inspectorate to ensure safety. The AKP voted down every one of them. The opposition also has called for a law that would limit and regulate construction in 18 municipalities that are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. But passing the so-called “tectonic plate law” would require an amendment to the constitution, which parliament has not yet even discussed. Since 2002, Turkish taxpayers have paid an additional “earthquake tax” on almost every financial transaction they make, including the payment income tax and motor vehicle tax, and even the purchase of plane tickets. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Turkey. You cannot ignore nature — but you can build accordingly and with care, taking account of nature’s force. Alexandra de Cramer The earthquake tax was introduced as a temporary measure to build an emergency and disasters fund. To date, more than 140 billion Turkish lira ($17.4 billion) has been collected from taxpayers. There is widespread suspicion, however, that this money has been misused — a notion seemingly confirmed by former Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, who admitted it was spent on health, education and highway construction. When asked about the money in January, after an earthquake in the eastern province of Elazig that left 41 people dead, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan replied that it was “none of anyone’s business to ask where the earthquake tax money has been spent. It was spent where it ought to be spent.” This was not only a callous response but wrong. How taxpayers’ money is spent is very much everyone’s business — the law says so. Legal experts point out that Turkey’s Public Financial Management and Control Law requires the government to be accountable for, and transparent about, how it spends public funds. Earthquakes are a fact of life in Turkey. You cannot ignore nature — but you can build accordingly and with care, taking account of nature’s force. Until that happens, however, Turkey can only await its next tragedy. Alexandra de Cramer is a journalist based in Istanbul. Her work ranges from current affairs to culture, and has been featured in Monocle, Courier Magazine, Maison Francaise and Istanbul Art News. Copyright: Syndication Bureau Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view