ANKARA: The Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) participated on Tuesday in laying the foundation stone for the project to establish a fire and disaster control center in the Turkish province of Antalya, with a contribution from the Kuwait Finance House. The center will serve the Turkish people in the Mediterranean region. The head of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society delegation to Antalya, Khaled Al-Mutairi, told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the value of the financial support provided by the Kuwait Finance House amounts to five million dollars under the direct supervision and follow-up of the Kuwait Red Crescent.

Al-Mutairi added that the Mediterranean region includes the provinces of Adana, Antalya, Mersin, Burdur, Hatay, Isparta, and Osmaniye, which are often exposed to natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, and landslides. Regarding the area of the center project, he said that it will be built on a land with a total area of about 38,000 square meters and a building area of about 13,000 square meters, noting that the number of beneficiaries of the center is about three million people.

The building consists of two floors. There will be a building for training its cadres and a building for rescue equipment. The project is expected to be completed within a period of time not exceeding two years. Al-Mutairi said that Kuwait is keen to continue providing support to Turkey in facing disasters, especially after the devastating earthquake that occurred last year and caused loss of life and property. In this regard, he referred to the Kuwaiti role in the official “Kuwait by Your Side” campaign, during which donations worth $42.6 million were collected in the first six hours of its launch to support earthquake victims under the directives of the supreme political leadership to support the Turkish and Syrian people.

For his part, the Governor of Antalya, Turkey, Hulusi Sahin, praised, during the foundation stone-laying ceremony, Kuwait’s contribution to the “vital” project that serves the Turkish people and the Mediterranean region, expressing his pride in hosting the Kuwait Red Crescent Society delegation in the coastal province. He expects the project to be completed within two years, and it will include two headquarters for the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) and the Ministry of Interior, as well as a headquarters for training and qualifying AFAD cadres.

The Director General of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), Sadi Ergin, expressed in a similar speech his happiness at the launch of this project. Ergin appreciated the grant allocated to the project under the agreement signed between the Ministry of Interior, its affiliated agency (AFAD), and the Kuwait Red Crescent, which will enhance cooperation between the two countries, praising the fruitful cooperation between Turkey and Kuwait. — KUNA