📩 22/09/2023 15:03
The 'Earthquake Risk Reduction and Prevention Planning Project', carried out jointly between Bursa Metropolitan Municipality and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is progressing step by step. Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş, who evaluated the work done so far with JICA managers and expert team, said that they are trying to make Bursa more resilient against possible earthquakes.
The presentation of the Earthquake Risk Reduction and Prevention Planning Project, which was recently initiated by the Metropolitan Municipality together with JICA, working hard to make Bursa, which is located in the first degree earthquake zone, more resistant to the devastating effects of a possible earthquake, was made in the historical municipality building in Heykel. JICA Turkey Vice President Jun Yamazaki, JICA Expert Team Team Leader Shinichi Fukasawa, JICA Disaster Risk Reduction Project Officer Aylin Çelik and JICA Expert Team Secretary Onur Özge came together with Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş for the presentation. At the meeting, suggestions were presented and ideas were exchanged for identifying areas with high risk of damage against a possible earthquake, performing a vulnerability analysis of urban structures/buildings, strengthening or reconstructing vulnerable urban structures and buildings.
Evaluating the process regarding the project on which they started working, JICA Project Team Team Leader Shinichi Fukasawa said, “We have a 42-month process. Our aim is to develop Bursa Metropolitan Municipality's investment incentive system on disaster risk reduction for urban resilience. "The project outputs can be listed as disaster risk assessment, creating a useful urban resilience plan in accordance with the urban plan and sharing it with the relevant department," he said.
JICA Turkey Vice President Jun Yamazaki said, “We will obtain the "Hazard and Risk Assessment" results in January 2024. "At the end of the project, we will have prepared the Urban Resilience Plan, Urban Development Plan and Disaster Risk Reduction Plans at a scale of 1/25.000, which complement each other," he said.
Our most important agenda
Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş reminded the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş and drew attention to the importance of the project for Bursa. Noting that the earthquake is the most important agenda of not only Bursa but also the country, Mayor Aktaş said, “Turkey is an earthquake country, we should keep this fact on our agenda and accept it. With the project we carry out jointly with JICA, we will identify damaged structures in our city and make recommendations regarding the strengthening or reconstruction of these structures. We started working on the project in March. A scientific committee of 7 people, consisting of academicians who are experts in their fields, was established from various universities to support the project. We also held meetings with broad participation consisting of JICA expert teams, scientific board academicians, relevant institutions and our municipality units. We shared the building data of our 17 districts with the JICA expert team. "At the same time, the necessary data has started to be collected from district municipalities and other relevant institutions," he said.