Announcement of World Bank Supports Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness for Turkey on May 26, 2005

Turkey: World Bank Supports Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Contacts: In Ankara¾Tunya Celasin, (90-312) 459 83 43 Tcelasin@worldbank.org In Washington: Miriam Van Dyck: 1-202- 458 2931 Mvandyck@worldbank.org Ankara, May 26, 2005— The World Bank approved today a Euro 310.00 million (US$400.00 million equivalent) Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project Loan (ISMEP) for Turkey. The project’s main objective is to initiate a process that aims at transforming Istanbul in the next 10-20 years into a city resilient to major earthquake. The overall goal of the project is to save lives and reduce the social, economic and financial impacts in the event of a major earthquakes in Istanbul Region. The specific objective of the project is to improve the city of Istanbul’s preparedness for a potential earthquake through enhancing the institutional and technical capacity for disaster management and emergency response, strengthening critical public facilities for earthquake resistance, and supporting measures for better enforcement of building codes and land use plans. Istanbul Special Provincial Administration will be the responsible agency on behalf of the Republic of Turkey. “Turkey in general and Istanbul Region in particular is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, particularly earthquakes. In the 1999 Marmara earthquakes, the death toll reached over 17,000 with a direct economic impact estimated at about US$5 billion, or around 2.5 percent of GNP. If an earthquake of the same magnitude as that in 1999 were to occur near Istanbul, the human suffering as well as the social, economic, and environmental impacts would be dramatically higher than in the Marmara region, as Istanbul is not only the financial, cultural and industrial center of the country, but is also a nexus of inter-continental importance and home of about 15 million people.” said Andrew Vorkink, Country Director for Turkey. “The good news is that the Government of Turkey is very much aware of the critical need to develop and to implement a comprehensive hazard risk management strategy for the country. With Bank support through the Marmara Earthquake Emergency Reconstruction (MEER) project, a risk transfer mechanism through a catastrophe insurance scheme was successfully launched, and has received a significant international recognition. In parallel to changes in the emergency management structures at the central level, considerable efforts and resources have been invested at the regional and local levels to better prepare at-risk-communities against future disasters. The Istanbul province, both the municipality and the governorship in particular has demonstrated a high level of commitment and ownership in earthquake mitigation efforts, and has initiated several valuable seismic risk assessment and planning activities” he continued. “Through ISMEP project more will be achieved. Key public facilities will be retrofitted to resist a major earthquake; skills and technical capacities of the relevant emergency response units will be strengthened; and building codes and land use plans will be improved. The Project will retrofit around 40 hospitals and 600 schools, and a smaller number of clinics, dormitories, and administrative buildings. It will also demolish and rebuild the building if found to be too weak to be retrofitted. These are extremely important when lives of people are concerned. And the Bank is proud to partner with the Turkish Government to save lives through ISMEP," Vorkink added on the occasion of the approval of the Loan by the Board. The Project will compose of the following components: Component A: Enhancing Emergency Preparedness This component will enhance the effectiveness and capacity of the provincial and municipal public safety organizations in Istanbul to prepare for, respond to and recover from significant emergencies, especially those arising from earthquakes. Component B: Seismic Risk Mitigation for Public Facilities This component will reduce the risk of future earthquake damage to critical facilities in order to save lives and ensure their continued functioning in the event of an earthquake, through retrofitting of hospitals, schools and other priority public facilities. Component C: Enforcement of Building Codes This component will support innovative approaches to better enforcement of building code and compliance with land use plans. Component D: Project Management This component will support the Istanbul Provincial Administration to implement the project in efficient and transparent manner, and build the institutional capacity to sustain the implementation of Seismic Risk Mitigation and Preparedness program beyond the life of the project. The proposed terms of the Loan is Variable-Spread Single Currency Loan denominated in EURO. The lending instrument ISMEP project is the World Bank’s Specific Investment Loan (SIL) with a 17-year maturity, including a 4-year grace period. Specific investment loans (SILs) support the creation, rehabilitation, and maintenance of economic, social, and institutional infrastructure. In addition, SILs may finance consultant services and management and training programs. For more information about the World Bank’s work in Turkey, visit: http://www.worldbank.org.tr. For more information about this project, visit: http://www.worldbank.org/projects