ALEPPO /Syria/, August 2. /TASS/. Syria’s authorities have begun implementation of the state program for the restoration of populated localities in the Aleppo governorate that were liberated from militants, deputy governor of the province, Hamid Kenno, said on Thursday.
"The state program includes three stages. First, we must restore infrastructure, as people cannot live without water and electricity. Stage two provides for targeted assistance - we collect information about the needs of each family. Stage three is to encourage people to return to their homes. We must explain to them that now it is safe here," he said.
By now, more than one million people have returned to the governorate, both from other Syrian governorates and from neighboring countries - Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
People who are returning to their homes take in with understanding that there are some problems with the infrastructure and try to help each other. As there is no centralized water supply, a local resident, Binan Mahmoud, transports water to people on his tractor. "A well with drinking water is located a kilometer away from here. I fill a tank and bring it to the city. I take no money but people give me fuels for my tractor so that I could continue to do this job," he said.
Returning Syrians are glad to be back home and are reluctant to share their recollections of the war. "We had to flee from here in 2014, when a war erupted in Aleppo. Militants destroyed cities and neighborhoods, spared no one. It was very dangerous," said Hussein al-Shalh, who have returned to Aleppo with his ten children.
The Aleppo governorate was liberated from militants in late 2016. More than six million civilians fled the governorate when it was controlled by militants.