"Sixty-seven days after the earthquake, only 40% of those affected by the earthquake in Kermanshah have received makeshift houses, which are not good enough for the cold," Farhad Tajari, an MP for Qasr-e Shirin, a town on the border with the Kurdistan Region, told the Iranian parliament.
Qasr-e Shirin and Sarpol-e Zahab were two of the worst effected towns in what was the world’s deadliest earthquake of 2017. According to Iranian media, 620 people were killed in Kermanshah province, including these two towns, and over 12,000 were injured.
The homes of thousands more were destroyed or damaged. Cheap construction of low-income housing was one of the factors behind the high death toll.
According to Tajari, while 28,000 homes were damaged, only 16,400 makeshift houses have been provided, according to statistics from Iran's Ministry of Settlement.
The lawmaker said the government's actions have been insufficient and ineffective. He also criticized delays in some government decisions.
"The Ministry of Industry of Iran has not taken any steps to provide compensation to the factories damaged and the Ministry of Energy is yet to evaluate the damage and material losses," Tajari added.
He claimed that MPs on governmental committees formed to evaluate the damage have reported only 50 percent of the damage, covering up the other half.
This week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved $300 million in aid relief for Kermanshah province, IRNA news reported.
One hundred million will be dedicated for infrastructure like water, electricity, and renovating schools. And $200 million will be distributed as interest-free or low-interest loans through provincial banks.
The head of the government office overseeing reconstruction of housing anticipated that rehabilitation work should be completed by the end of June in rural areas of Kermanshah and by the end of the year in urban areas, IRNA reported.
The November 12 earthquake, which also violently shook parts of the Kurdistan Region especially the towns of Halabja and Darbandikhan, measured magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale. It mostly affected the Kurdish provinces of western Iran that are amongst the poorest in Iran.
