“The state has the ability to very quickly help our fellow citizens who were affected by the fire,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the meeting in Penteli about the fires.
“The Greek State now has at its disposal a state aid framework which is tested and which our demand is to run very quickly. I think we can do it because we have handled other cases of natural disasters with multiple beneficiaries”, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who presided today at a wide-ranging meeting at the Penteli municipal store with the co-competent ministers and representatives of the Local Government, where the actions for the restoration of the areas affected by the fire of August 11 in northeastern Attica and the results of the autopsies that have been carried out.
At the same time, he noted that the will of the government is to advance the projects very quickly in order to limit any possible flooding phenomena in the coming months.
The Prime Minister, among other things, referred to the issues of restoration, covering the damages concerning the properties of the affected citizens, and said that every property that is lost is a tragedy for the owner. He pointed out that the state has the possibility, through the framework launched by the government “to very quickly help our fellow citizens who saw their properties destroyed to get back on their feet, whether we are talking about residences, or we are talking about businesses” .
He added that this program is a proven program, “which in the numbers we have to manage can and should run very quickly.”
“Almost 4,000 fires were dealt with this year”
He also underlined that almost 4,000 fires were dealt with this year, and many of them were in Attica.
“Unfortunately, this was the only fire that escaped, despite the fact that the correct approach was adopted in this fire, as was demonstrated in many other fires, the doctrine of a very quick first attack,” said the prime minister.
Mr. Mitsotakis also said that at the end of the fire fighting season there will be a total report in the Parliament on what went well and what did not, while praising the role of technology in dealing with fires.
“Technology has helped us a lot. There is no longer any correlation in terms of the speed at which we are seeing fires compared to what happened in the past. And that, yes, requires a combination of drones, cameras, but we’re already building a technological infrastructure that allows us to be able to locate fires very quickly and naturally adopt the first-strike doctrine in a much more aggressive way than we have. does” said Mr. Mitsotakis and added that important steps have been taken in the matters of coordination between the Ministry, the Fire Department, the Municipalities, the Region, and the Forestry Departments.
“These things didn’t happen in the past. I think some of you are older than me, you have managed other fires. We have made progress in this direction and I think these are issues that we need to capitalize on,” he said.
Measures following condemnations of the Penteli burnings
It is recalled that earlier Mr. Mitsotakis performed an autopsy in Penteli under the protests of the citizens who welcomed him with placards and slogans.
The presence of the police was intense with MAT squads creating a protective cordon around the area where the government echelon met.
Before the meeting at the Penteli Municipal Store, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the closed gymnasium of the Nea Penteli High School, which was damaged by the fire in northeastern Attica, where he was welcomed by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras, the Mayor of Penteli Natassa Kosmopoulou and the Principal of the school.
Afterwards, the Prime Minister, accompanied by the Mayor, also visited the Holy Monastery of Penteli where he was welcomed by the abbot, while outside Moni, together with the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilia, he spoke with the ranks of the Fire Department and the volunteer firefighters who they are there.
Finally, with the mayor, he also went to the facilities of the National Observatory of Athens where the President of the Observatory Prof. Manolis Pleionis, the Vice President Dr. Spyros Vasilakos and the Head of the Research Support Directorate Dr. Thanasis Marousis was welcomed at the facilities of the Observatory.
Mr. Pleionis informed the Prime Minister about the fire prevention measures taken by the Observatory, which played a decisive role in preventing its facilities from being damaged.
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