“Establishing social justice” has been declared as the most important goal of the formation of the Islamic government. Social justice, in its definition, means “establishing justice and bridging the gap and deep class divisions in society and preventing unjust accumulation of wealth.” Considering the first goal of the establishment of the Islamic government, the Islamic society is in contradiction with the above definition when it comes to reaching out to the oppressed and existing divisions. In the fall and winter of this year, as in previous years, the province of Hormozgan has faced many natural disasters. Some of them have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of many people. Some lost their homes and livelihoods in the November 23 earthquake, and others in the floods of December 12 and 28. After visiting the earthquake and flood-stricken areas of Hormozgan, national and provincial officials promised permanent housing and compensation for the damages to the affected before the year 1401. Less than forty days remain until

Wound of time.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook the city of Fin in the afternoon of 23 November 2021. The earthquake was felt in many neighboring cities and ninety people were injured; two people lost their lives while trying to take shelter. The villages in the Fin district of Bandar Abbas, including “Rezvan”, “Zarto”, “Kuh-e Siah”, “Gishan West and East”, “Ab-e Bala and Ab-e Pain”, “Shirin Ab-e Bala and Shirin Ab-e Pain”, “Mazra Bala and Pain”, and “Siahoo” were the most affected by the earthquake. It has been almost three months since the people of the earthquake-stricken villages in the Fin district have left their homes, which were damaged by the earthquake, and taken refuge in tents. There is no exact information about the time of permanent resettlement for the earthquake victims. The process of rebuilding homes is reported to be slow according to the

Flood of promises.

Two thousand and two hundred and eight residential units and eight hundred houses in need of repair after the earthquake were identified in Fīn. Akbar Nikzad, the head of the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution, promised loans, free aid, and temporary housing expenses to the people of Fīn after the earthquake. On November 24, 2021, he said, “Fellow citizens whose homes have been destroyed or damaged during the earthquake in Hormozgan should not worry about rebuilding their homes, and each person will receive a total of 220 million tomans in loans, free aid, and temporary housing expenses.” On the other hand, Mehdi Dosti, the governor of Hormozgan, announced the payment of 180 million tomans in interest-free loans and 70 million tomans in free aid to the owners of damaged houses in the earthquake. He also announced the approval of the distribution of 120 billion tomans in allocated funds for compensating the damages caused

“Deception in the month of Dey.”

An extraordinary meeting of the Crisis Management Headquarters of Hormozgan province was held after the meteorological warning about the arrival of a new system on January 14, 2021. Officials in Hormozgan were caught off guard by the rainfall on December 31, 2020. The governor of Hormozgan announced on January 10, 2021 that the damage caused by the rainfall on December 31, 2020 amounted to two trillion and two hundred and fifty million tomans. The cities of Minab, Bastak, Rudan, Qeshm, Parsian, Sirik, and Bandar Lengeh suffered significant damage in this rainfall. In the weeks when most cities in the province were busy repairing and estimating flood damage, on January 17, 2021, the province was once again caught off guard by floods. The day before, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the director of the Crisis Management Department of the Governorate of Hormozgan,

Ambiguity in distribution.

On the 8th of Bahman, one billion tomans of public aid from Qeshm was sent to the flood victims of Minab. On the 17th of Bahman, the executive headquarters of Imam’s Order in 2004 allocated eight billion tomans for essential goods and 700 head of livestock to the earthquake victims of the province. The distribution locations of the aid in the “Ehsan” operation were not mentioned. In addition, on the 14th of Bahman, the director of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee in Hormozgan announced the distribution of 3,250 essential items worth nearly 3.2 billion tomans among the affected people of Rudan county. However, after each distribution, there is dissatisfaction and ambiguity in the selection and distribution of aid among the people. In the chaos of this year’s floods, it was also announced that the “Shahid Soleimani” village would be opened to accommodate the earthquake victims of

“Until forever in hardship.”

Rain damages in Hormozgan province have been announced to be over one trillion tomans. According to the Young Journalists Club, this amount is more than the development budget of Hormozgan and the salaries of all employees in the province for one year. Of this amount, four hundred billion tomans have been inflicted on the agricultural sector of the province. Last winter, five hundred billion tomans were also inflicted on the province after heavy rains. The important question that arises is whether all the damages will be compensated for. Hormozgan is a dry, earthquake-prone, and flood-prone province. This province annually suffers mostly irreparable damages in various sectors due to natural hazards (twenty-two out of thirty hazards). Despite all the warnings and information from crisis management and the provincial defense organization, they have not been able to have an acceptable performance in dealing with hazards. Most officials defend their poor performance by claiming “negligence” and “lack of experience”. Although financial aid is allocated