A request for a pre-agenda debate on Civil Protection was submitted to the president of the Parliament by the official opposition, inviting Kyriakos Mitsotakis to come to the Parliament regarding the catastrophic fires.
According to the relevant announcement of SYRIZA, the request was submitted on the occasion of the widespread destruction caused by the fires of this year’s fire fighting season, with the most recent one in Corinth, the zero prevention and shielding of the country and the incomplete restoration of the infrastructure and support for the affected .
The official opposition accuses the government of inadequacy and unpreparedness, focusing on the following points:
• From 2019 to today, four (4) million acres of land have been burned – This is a record of burned land.
• The Fire Service has 3,500 organic vacancies.
• 2,000 of the 3,600 vehicles of the Fire Department are over 20 and 30 years old. A situation that will not improve with the addition of 160 new vehicles, recently announced by the Prime Minister.
• The absorption rate from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for the projects of the AEGIS program amounts to only 1%.
“SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance has submitted comprehensive proposals for Civil Protection, while it has repeatedly raised the relevant issues in the Parliament, addressing a government which, apparently on purpose, is deaf and unable to give adequate answers. It also avoids the discussion, but also the assumption of responsibility” it is noted in the letter and it is added that in order to implement the prevention of forest fires “it is necessary to take a series of measures, such as the strengthening of the Forestry Service, which is leading to the dissolution with systematic understaffing and its underfunding, the adoption of long-term strategic planning for prevention and coordination between the co-competent bodies, the development of a sustainable forest management strategy with the removal of fuel and the creation of fire zones, the timely absorption of European funds for the implementation of forest protection projects, as well as the full implementation of land use regulations to prevent disorderly and arbitrary building, especially on the fringes of cities and in sensitive areas between the urban fabric and forest lands.’
The letter in detail:
Athens, October 7, 2024
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE GREEK PARLIAMENT
Subject: Request to hold a pre-agenda debate in the Parliament (Article 143 of the Civil Protection Act) on issues of Civil Protection, on the occasion of the extensive disasters caused by the fires, the zero prevention and shielding of the country and the incomplete restoration of the infrastructure and support for the affected .
Dear Mr. President,
The large fires in Ilia, but also in Corinthia, which broke out at the end of the fire protection season, highlight in the most emphatic way the inadequacy and unpreparedness of the Government to face the effects of the climate crisis, as well as that complacency is an unforgivable luxury. The fire in Corinthia, in fact, took place on the day when the Prime Minister was being praised for the performance of the state apparatus during this year’s fire fighting season and a few days after the announcement by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection about the non-renewal of the contracts of the Seasonal Firefighters .
The fire in Corinthia, after covering a front of 30 kilometers, from Derveni to Xylokastro, causing the tragic death of two of our people and the injury of two firefighters, left behind 65 thousand burned acres and extensive damage to homes and infrastructure. Its treatment is judged – to say the least – insufficient, since it was limited several days later to the sea and the national road, while it was the only active front and was developing at such a close distance from the air base and Athens. The treatment of, among others, the great fire of Attica last August, which reached the urban fabric, at the border of the Municipality of Chalandrio, the great fire in the forest of Dadia, with the consequent ecological disaster, etc. was also insufficient. .
Although the annual cost of air leases has tripled in the last five years, so has the area burned. Greece is first in the EU. both in the ratio of burned area per number of fires and in percentage of burned area designated as “Natura 2000”. The reports of the “Goldammer Commission”, the OECD and the “European Civil Protection Mechanism” have concluded that the prevention of forest fires presents critical gaps in our country.
A first recording of critical data for the field of Civil Protection highlights that:
• From 2019 to today, four (4) million acres of land have been burned – This is a record of burned land.
• The Fire Service has 3,500 organic vacancies.
• 2,000 of the 3,600 vehicles of the Fire Department are over 20 and 30 years old. A situation that will not improve with the addition of 160 new vehicles, announced by the Prime Minister in his weekly report.
• The absorption rate from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for the projects of the AEGIS program amounts to only 1%.
SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance has submitted comprehensive proposals for Civil Protection, while it has repeatedly raised the above issues in the Parliament, addressing a Government which, apparently on purpose, is deaf and unable to give adequate answers. He avoids discussion, but also the assumption of responsibility.
In order to implement the prevention of forest fires, it is necessary to take a series of measures, such as the strengthening of the Forestry Service, which is leading to its dissolution due to its systematic understaffing and underfunding, the adoption of a long-term strategic planning for prevention and coordination between the co-competent bodies, the preparation strategic sustainable management of forests with the removal of fuel and the creation of fire zones, the timely absorption of European funds for the implementation of forest protection projects, as well as the full implementation of land use regulations in order to prevent anarchic and arbitrary construction, especially on the fringes of cities and in sensitive areas between the urban fabric and woodlands.
Based on the above data, we request that a debate be held immediately before the order of the day in the Parliament (Article 143 of the Civil Code) on the issues of Civil Protection, the fire protection of the country, and the incomplete restoration of the infrastructure and support for those affected by the fires.
Sincerely,
The President of the Parliamentary Group of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance
Nikos Pappas
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