The Turkish IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, in cooperation with other organizations, have built a residential compound of thousands of houses, provided with all services needed for immediate usage, in northern rural Idlib.
The project, called the “New Life City,” is constructed with the joint effort of several organizations, on top of which the Turkish “IHH”, in addition to contributions from the Pakistani “Khubaib” Foundation. The compound is located near the village of Kafr Lusin, northern Idlib, aiming at the construction of a model residential city, with about 1600 apartments, in addition to schools, medical and service centers and public facilities.
The impoverished families in northern Syria would be given the priority on the residential lists of the compound, as it attempts to cover these families’ needs, especially families of martyrs and the poorer segment of the area’s population, according to “IHH’s” media official Odai al-Satouf.
The project, to end as a model city, was started six months ago, consisting of 1553 departments, four apartments each floor, al-Satouf told Enab Baladi on Saturday, November 24.
Each apartment consists of three rooms and utility rooms, while provided with a good fixture, water, electricity and all needed furniture, as to be ready for housing.
The media official said that so far 72 apartments have been furnished, funded by the “Khubaib” Foundation; they will soon be ready to accommodate people, adding that the rest of the housing units will be furnished at indefinite stages.
The planed model city project includes four schools, a mosque, a dispensary and several kindergartens, in addition to the public facilities, upgraded and equipped roads, according to al-Satouf.
Standards will also be set as to define the families that deserve a space at the new city, most importantly is the living conditions of northern Syria’s families, including those displaced from other governorates.
Since it is not finalized yet, the project’s overall cost is not clear because many sponsors are implementing it, including the Turkish “IHH” and the Pakistani “Khubaib” foundation, al-Satouf said, adding that everything will be clear at the end of the project’s execution.
The importance of the project arises from the urgent need of thousands of families, which lost their houses during the lingering war in Syria, and the catastrophe lived by the displaced persons in Northern Syria.
Idlib governorate became a house for massive waves of displacement, coming from the areas that the Syrian regime controlled, after signing a “reconciliation” deal in Damascus, its countryside, Daraa and Homs.
According to the “Response Team,” on November 8, there are about 4.7 million persons in Northern Syria, of which one and half a million people are displaced and camps’ residents.
The humanitarian project came as a response to Northern Syria’s activists appeals to the humanitarian organizations to participate in meeting the winter-related demands of the afflicted people and “the vulnerable groups at the uninhabitable camps.”
The refugee camps, spreading in Northern Syria, lack the basic needed services, especially in winter, for both the tents and the sanitation networks are bad, while heating and care are missing because rain has inflicted damage upon hundreds of tents and their content.
The area is currently witnessing a cautious calm following the “Sochi” deal, signed by Turkey and Russia, which provides for the establishment of a “demilitarized zone” between the areas controlled by the regime and those by the opposition in Idlib.
In the past a few years, the Turkish “IHH” organization has played a key role in dozens of service and relief projects in Northern Syria, including a residential project near the Bab al-Hawa crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders.