Two weeks after the earthquake, about 300 families in Bubq are still living in summer tents, in difficult conditions and without medical care.
Among them are children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses who have not received state aid or any form of donations.
Former Democrat MP Agron Shehaj, after a visit to Bubq, writes that among the sick are young children:
“Four-year-old Rosalinda is sick with high fever, sleeping in a cold tent, sleeping on clay soil, without any health care. Like Rosalinda in the tents, there are hundreds of children, old people, people with chronic illnesses. In Bubq alone about 300 families are living in small tents erected in the yards in front of dilapidated houses. ”
Calling on the state for intervention and the media for awareness, Mr. Shehaj said that these families can no longer stand in the cold, humid tents:
“The situation in the tents with the cold and humid winter that has fallen is on the verge of human disaster. The tragedy of the earthquake has left the cruel drama of survival of people completely abandoned by the state. With a group of citizens, we are trying to facilitate and help as much as possible.”
He asked on the state to urgently intervene, noting that citizens pay the state to “guarantee our lives and security.” Calling on the media to raise awareness, he said that they should be able to do so without being singled out by the Prime Minister.
Exit visited Bubq and surrounding villages earlier this week and found many families in flimsy tents, and others who had not received any government assistance. Conditions were dire and residents said they felt that the state had forgotten them and that they had little hope of getting support. Exit saw no evidence of state aid and only one family said they had been given a tent, adding it was too thin and too small to house their whole family.
A government spokesperson told Al Jazeera that more than 13,000 people have been accommodated after the earthquake and “those who lived in rural areas have been provided with winter tents”.
Exit reached out to the same spokesperson to ask why many families and even entire villages have not received any tents or aid despite the claim to Al Jazeera that they had provided them.
No reply was forthcoming.
