Republican People’s Party (CHP) Agricultural Commission Member Deputies Ayhan Barut, Okan Gaytancıoğlu and İlhami Özcan Aygun drew attention to the danger of chemical pesticides under the earthquake debris. CHP Deputies, who said that chemical pesticides waiting under the rubble would mix with groundwater in the first rain, pollute nature and poison people, demanded immediate action.
INTERVIEWED WITH VICTIM FARMERS AND VILLAGES
CHP Agricultural Commission Member Deputies Ayhan Barut, Okan Gaytancıoğlu and İlhami Özcan Aygun, who were assigned by the Headquarters to heal the wounds of the earthquake and to carry out field work on the negative effects of the earthquake on agriculture and farmers, made investigations in Adıyaman. Working in the villages hit by the earthquake in rural areas, CHP deputies listened to the problems of Agricultural Engineer İsmet Kaçmaz, whose workplace was demolished in Besni District and whose 5 million lira worth of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides containing chemicals remained.
“DANGEROUS PRODUCTS MUST BE REMOVED”
Pointing out that everyone is victimized by the earthquake, CHP Adana Deputy Ayhan Barut said:
“Everybody is a victim, the rural areas are much more victimized. At the moment, we are in front of the wreckage of a 4-storey collapsed building in our district of Besni. We stand by İsmet Kaçmaz, who is the owner of the pesticide, fertilizer and seed warehouse on the ground floor of this building, which provides important inputs to agriculture, and who is also an agricultural engineer and also a farmer. Our friend is talking here about his products falling under the rubble and they all nearly exploded. He states that he is experiencing a lot of grievances about the farmers right now when the sowing period has come. Here, we cannot save healthy products, and we want dangerous products to be removed by the authorities as soon as possible.
“BIG THREAT”
İsmet Kaçmaz, a pesticide dealer whose workplace was destroyed, emphasized that 5 million pesticides, seeds and fertilizers were left under the rubble and said:
“There is no work being done here. When it rains here, the drugs will mix with the groundwater, which is a huge threat. Although we reported it to AFAD and other institutions many times, they did nothing. They just say wait. The season has started, now in our region, the crops, chickpeas, lentils are being sprayed. The grievances of the farmers must be eliminated. We have to reach them somehow. We opened a shop in a secluded place, we bought medicine for three or five cents from a friend, we are trying to help our farmers in this way. We need to get rid of our grievances here. We’ve got loans. There are checks and promissory notes we give to companies. We cannot pay them. The interest on these loans should be written off. There were about 20 of these exploded pesticides you see, more than half of them exploded. We made a preliminary study and took care of our own possibilities, but we saw that it is not like it will happen, a big construction machine must come, otherwise it will not happen.”
“CAN BE POISONED”
Pointing out the harm that pesticides under the debris can cause to nature, CHP Edirne Deputy Okan Gaytancıoğlu said, “Agricultural production is an open-air factory, but the products must also be protected. These chemicals are very important, the producer was already victimized before, and he could not reach these chemicals in money, but he needs to use these chemicals, because if we want to feed eighty million people, we have to protect the product. These chemicals can also cause mass deaths and poison people if they get into the very dangerous groundwater. Above all, they need to listen to our brother İsmet. This debris must be removed from here as soon as possible, these drugs must be rescued or destroyed,” he said.
“REMOVE AT A MOMENT”
Mentioning that everyone has suffered a great deal, CHP Tekirdağ Deputy İlhami Özcan Aygun also said:
“In 11 provinces covering the earthquake zone, both drug dealers and veterinarians are in distress, and both veterinary drugs and herbal medicines, which have been under the same debris, should be removed by the Ministry of Agriculture and AFAD as soon as possible. Our brother İsmet needs to continue living, by providing him with a container and providing a raw material again, he needs to survive and hold on to life. Because they will bring medicine to the farmers in Besni, they will bring seeds and fertilizers so that our farmers will produce, feed our country and export. Maybe the chemicals mixed with the drinking water, then our children will cause poisoning after our people drink that water. We call on the authorities as soon as possible to support the drug dealers and veterinarians in Besni and many other places so that they can continue their lives in order to remove the debris and get them back on their feet.”
