Efrin Is Being Rebuilt, Calls For Support And Investment

(SEYİT EVRAN/ANF/EFRİN) The city of Efrin and its environs, which collectively compose one of the three autonomous cantons of Rojava, are being rebuilt. Water and electricity problems are being solved; work continues to improve transportation and create new commercial spaces; and investments are being made in the construction, agricultural, livestock and industrial sectors. The canton is also expecting assistance from municipalities and patriotic investors in North Kurdistan.

When the three cantons declared autonomy in January it was debated in many circles whether or not the cantons would be able to remain on their feet. Within the period since the canton governments of Rojava have increased confidence that are a model which can provide a solution to the problems of the region more generally.

They cantons succeeded in winning this confidence through the projects they have undertaken. WIth the work being carried out by each government canton and the committees formed to oversee it this government model has come the stage making itself accepted.

However all projects undertaken until now have been completed with the canton’s own resources. In summarizing developments around this topic the President of the Local Government Committee of the Efrin Autonomous Canton Government, Nurşan Hüsen, said that the they were expecting support from local governments in North Kurdistan as well as from patriotic investors in sectors such as agriculture, construction, livestock and industry.

Efrin is being rebuilt by projects they have been put before the Local Government Committee. In the course of the construction process the lack of construction equipment in particular is causing serious issues. Committee President Hüsen had this to say on the topic:

“One of the fundamental problems facing our city is the water problem. We have solved this in one respect. Another important problem is the problem of electricity and here too we are in a situation where we have solved the problem by our own means. But there are still things that need to be done beyond this. One of the first of these is to repair roads both inside and outside the city, as well as in villages and towns. We have put together a project around this and it now ongoing. Another problem is transportation between our city and the various towns and villages. We have all started work around this problem and it continues. Another one of our important works is the city market place and the construction of wholesale fruit and vegetable market. Here too we have put together a project and have started our work. Together with all of this one of our principal problems is the collection of garbage around the city, its villages and towns, and its extermination. Here too we have begun to organize some projects. Another subject is the problem of acquiring pesticides to encounter mosquitos and other disease bearing insects in the summer months. On this subject too we are working on a project.”

Committee President Hüsen went on to explain how all these projects are being carried out under the Efrin Municipality but often progress slowly and with difficulty owing to the lack of construction equipment, saying:

“We have one road grader, one bulldozer, and a number of half-broken trucks to carry rubble and sand. Outside of this we have no construction equipment. Of course this shows the true face of the Baath Regime. In the same way that they did nothing for our region they did not give us construction equipment. With the machines they we now have available we are working on a number of wholesale markets, some bus stations and some sanitation projects. For this reason the work is going slowly and with difficulty. We are unable to complete what for us is one of our most important projects – road repairs in the towns and villages – owing to a lack of equipment.”

AID POSSIBLE THROUGH SISTER MUNICIPALITIES SYSTEM

Hüsen stressed that they were working without pause to complete the projects, often relying on human labor power and shovels. He also suggested with the solidarity of municipalities in North Kurdistan they could help bring such services to the people more quickly and could better build a system that relies on the people at its foundation, saying:

“All the work we have done until now has been with our own limited resources. Because of the policies that have been put in place towards Rojava international organizations have not given us much support. But municipalities in the north can be help us on this subject. There is a statute in internal law regarding the proclamation of sister municipalities. Every municipality in the north can declare a municipality in Rojava a sister municipality. After this declaration they could send us an extra construction equipment or those which they are not using in order for us to carry out our services. We have expectations in this direct. It can be put this way: there are certain transportation problems and this might be correct for certain places actually. But after the proclamation of ‘sister sisters’ all legal options and means can be employed. Another thing, for example, is that there is not much a problem for this kind of aid to reach our Efrin Canton. There used to be border gates under the control of gangs but they are no longer under their control and can be used now. For that reason we are calling for help on all municipalities and official organizations in our to complete our projects. At the same time this is the project of building our system. Aid that will be given will be aid for the construction of the system. I want it to be known that sending one or two pieces of construction equipment will not do the job.”

A CALL FOR INVESTORS

Finally Committee President Hüsen drew attention to the business and investment opportunities in the canton, and called on patriotic investors from the North, South and West to invest “with a consciousness of the work to build a country and autonomy.”

In particular Hüsen underlined investor opportunities in everything from industry to the restructuring of the water infrastructure, saying:

“Efrin is being rebuilt. There is construction everywhere and there are many investment opportunities in the construction sector here. At the same time the capacity for agriculture and livestock is high in Efrin. In this sphere there is also a high potential for investment. One of the most simple examples is that there is a lot of production here around olives, pomegranate juice, meat and dairy products but no investment yet. More to the point there is no industry to turn process the finished products. All of these are areas where one could invest in Rojava and are just among some which I have mentioned.”