“I want to tell you clearly, once again, as a parent, as a citizen and as a politician, the only authority to give licenses to amusement parks is the Municipalities and they are the only ones competent to do the relevant checks, so you should go there.”
The above answer was given by the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, to a journalist’s question, whether the legislative framework for amusement parks should be changed, after the accident in Pefkohori, Halkidiki, where the 19-year-old from Veria lost his life.
“Ball” of responsibilities
The fact that the amusement park was not licensed was mentioned by mayor of Kassandra HalkidikiAnastasia Halkia, underlining that the operating license for amusement parks is not given by the municipality but “must have its machines certified and licensed by the Ministry of Development and makes a notification to notifybusiness”.
He pointed out that in this particular case this notification had not been made and the municipality had already proceeded with the procedure of imposing a fine.
Responding to the mayor’s statements, the Ministry of Development “washes its hands” and points to the municipality as being responsible for “issuing permits and checking compliance with the operating requirements of amusement parks”.
In detail, it states:
“Regarding the statements of the Mayor of Kassandra regarding the accident that took place on 08/19/2024 in an amusement park, the following are mentioned:
According to article 110 of Law 4442/2016, the only competent authority for the implementation of the legal framework regarding the granting of permits and the control of compliance with the operating requirements of amusement parks is the Municipality in whose territorial jurisdiction the activity is carried out, and in this particular case the Municipality of Kassandra.
The imposition of shutdown and fines for violation of the relevant legislation is also done by decision of the competent body of the relevant municipality, in the specific case of the Municipality of Kassandra”.
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