Khaseh-Baf: Public Participation Played an Effective Role in Rebuilding War-Damaged Homes

The managing director of Tehran Municipality's Investment Organization said public participation, philanthropists, and the private sector played a role in rebuilding homes damaged during the war.

In a conversation with Mehr reporter, Navid Khasehbaf, CEO of Tehran Municipality's Investment and People's Partnerships Organization, emphasized the role of people's participation in urban management measures during the war, and stated: To examine the performance of Tehran Municipality in this period, one should not only look at the capacity of the investment organization or the internal departments of the municipality, but also take into account the role of the private sector, contractors, manufacturers, benefactors, and people's groups.

He stated that various popular and jihadi groups with all strata and viewpoints came to work, adding: Tehran municipality was able to use the capacity of contractors and manufacturers to provide crushed glass and required materials. Donors also provided significant contributions, in cash and non-cash, to support the actions taken.

Referring to examples of people's participation in supporting the victims of the war, Khase Baf said: Among the people who announced their readiness to help, there was an elderly lady who, referring to having land in Tehran and her children living abroad, announced that she is ready to give her land to the municipality to build a residential unit for people whose houses were destroyed.

He continued: In the form of the "we build together" system, the field of participation of different people was provided; From the citizens who announced their readiness to host people and share their homes to the teachers who were willing to provide private education to the children of war victims on their free days.

Referring to the active participation of technical and executive forces in the reconstruction of damaged houses, Khase Baf clarified: Even people like plasterers announced that they can serve for free in the hours they have work time for the reconstruction of damaged houses. These examples show that at that time, various capacities of the society were mobilized to help the people.

He considered the mutual trust between the people and the government to be one of the important factors in the formation of these partnerships and said: Valuable events took place in this field, which was the result of the people's trust in the city administration and the city administration's trust in the people's capacities. This cooperation was not only limited to Tehran and we witnessed people's participation in different parts of the country, but the presence of Tehran Municipality alongside the citizens and its efforts to play a role alongside the people helped to make these participation more visible.

Khaseh Baf emphasized: What helped to implement extensive measures in the field of serving and supporting the victims during the war was not only the facilities and resources of the municipality, but also the support of the people, jihadi groups, benefactors and private sector activists played an important role in this direction.