Iranian football star to build new village for Kermanshah quake survivors

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Ali Daei, a famous Iranian former football player, will build a new village for earthquake-affected people in Kermanshah, according state media.

"This village will constitute 70 to 80 households and all the cost of construction will be paid from the donations collected by Ali Daei. This famous football player of our country is in Kermanshah to choose the place and start building the village," Houshang Bazwand, the governor of Kermanshah, told IRNA news agency.

Last year's earthquake struck the Kurdish areas along the Iran-Iraq border. The epicenter was at Sarpol-e Zahab town in Kermanshah, where more than 620 people died and up to 12,000 were injured. It was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2017.

After the earthquake, several Iranian celebrities announced fund-raising campaigns, asking people to send their financial donations to earthquake-affected people in Kermanshah.

Previously, Bazwand stated that Professor Sadegh Zibakalam at Tehran University, Daei, and Iranian charity worker Narges Kalbasi collected 3.2 billion toman (about $757,000), 8.5 billion toman (about $2 million), and 5.2 billion toman (about $1.23 million) respectively from public donations.

Zibakalm also has started to build a village named ‘Hope’ in Kermanshah. Zibakalam has announced it will be one of the most developed villages in the world with all required services and solar energy.

According to a local MP, while 28,000 homes were damaged, only 16,400 makeshift houses have been provided, citing to statistics from Iran's Ministry of Settlement. 

Kurdish officials have complained about Tehran’s poor response to the earthquake, and thus have turned to internationals for assistance.

Two weeks after the earthquake, Sweden donated €200,000 in financial aid to those affected. On June 11, Sweden's Ambassador to Iran Helena Sangeland and her Norwegian counterpart Lars Nordrum went to Kermanshah Province to see the latest developments in the humanitarian aid mission. 

“Earthquake struck Kermanshah Province in Kurdistan 12/11-17.  569 lives lost, 12000 homes completely destroyed and many more affected. Sweden and Norway provided early emergency response with #NRC as implementing partner. Clear that developmental needs are huge,” tweeted Sangeland.

The NRC (Norwegian Refugee Council) has worked in Iran as a non-governmental organization for more than 30 years. Their previous focus has been on assisting Afghan refugees.

“Norwegian-Swedish joint mission to #kermanshah today. Seeing the damage from the #Earthquakes in November 2017 and the efforts of @NRC_Norway in providing humanitarian aid to the people affected. @NorwayMFA & @Sweden donors,” tweeted Nordum.