Bolu moves up north

Offices of the Mayor and the provincial governor launch ground studies to decide on moving Bolu up north

       The city centre of Bolu, the city which has suffered the second blow of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Nov. 12, is gradually being evacuated. The scale of the damage to the present settlement areas in the city drives officials to come up with efficient solutions.
       The offices of the Mayor and the provincial governor have speeded up their efforts on the new settlement plan they had begun working on after the first earthquake in the area which hit on Aug. 17. Furthermore, the idea of moving the province to the more secure region to the north of its present location seems to be gaining more and more support.
       Head of the Bolu Chamber of Industry and Commerce Turgut Kalaycioglu, said that estimates for the economic loss exceeded 10 trillion liras in Bolu only. Kalaycioglu stated that the industry in the region would not rejuvenate itself before six months. "Bolu's population was on the decrease due to immigration anyway," he noted. "Immigration has doubled since the quake. Bolu has the look of a dead city now."
       Kalaycioglu pointed out that production capacities of industrial plants in the region had been decreased by half following the initial earthquake in August, but that capacities had hit bottom after the last big tremor of Nov. 12.
       "Economy has come to a halt in Bolu. Commercial and industrial facilities are shut. Production would not resume before another 15 days, he said.
       Kalaycioglu said they intended to set up a crisis centre within the body of the Chamber in order to realise a rigorous assessment of damage in the region. He said they were to demand postponements in taxation and loans to help resume production.