Ζερεφός : "Φόβος Πάνω από την Αθήνα" (VIDEO)

Ζερεφός : "Φόβος Πάνω από την Αθήνα" (VIDEO)

Ο διεθνούς φήμης Περιβαλλοντολόγος και Πρόεδρος του Εθνικού Αστεροσκοπείου Αθηνών Χρήστος Ζερεφός, αναφέρεται σε συνέντευξη του στο Reuter στις δραματικές επιπτώσεις και την οικολογική καταστροφή, μετά το πρόσφατο κύμα των πυρκαγιών στην Ελλάδα.

Athens Fires May Torch Marathon! At least 100 forest blazes have started throughout Greece in less than a day torching the worst record set in 2007, officials said.

Up to 80 large forest fires torch Greece. The worst blazes are occurring in areas where homes are built among trees, reducing the forests, natural resistence to fire. Photo AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
Summary of events:

• Fires are spreading through northern suburb of  Athens, the Greek capital.
• The government has  declared a state of emergency in the area.
• The fires have spread as far north as the towns of Grammatiko and Varnavas, and are also threatening the town of Marathon.
• Thousands of hectares of forest, farmland  and olive groves have been blackened; many homes and structure have been destroyed.
• Gale-force winds are intensifying the blazes, which started late Friday, intensifying  overnight through Saturday
• Fire crews are trying to prevent the fires from reaching Pendeli, a famous suburb of the capital with spectacular view of Athens.
• “Much of Pendeli mountain was destroyed in 2007, and further erosion of the treeline would be an ecological disaster,” the BBC’s reporter in Athens said.
• The 2007 forest fires on mainland blackened 6% of Greece’s tree cover, killing 70 people.
  
• “The fires are further contributing to the deforestation of the mountains around Athens. Three of the four mountains surrounding the capital have already been stripped of their trees by fire,” BBC added.
• In July thousands of hectares of forest and farmland were incinerated across the Mediterranean in France, Greece, Italy and Spain, aided by heat waves and dry conditions.

Related Links:

• The Fire in Spain Stays Mainly in the Forest
• STOP Chocking Nature to YOUR Death!
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions – 2009 Report
• Magnitude 6.7 quake strikes south of Crete

• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• World cannot survive without a revolution

TRY TO FIND OUT WHO ARE THE BENEFACTORS OF THE CRIME…

From: Brigitte Thanasoulas [mailto:georgesthanasoulas@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:29 PM
To: Journal Ta Nea
Subject: The Mystery of Mavro Vouno

The blaze started just below the site of the projected landfill in an area that is heavily guarded by Police. It was "easy" to control it in the very beginning. However, the Firemen decided to protect the bulldozers used for the creation of the landfill rather than stop the blaze!! This is a scoop! See pictures and a film in the Video Album. So who could have done it? 1/ where the fire started The asphalt road leading to the landfill has been under the watch of the police, the  riot police and the civil police since July 7th  where the 4 contractor’s machines are under their watch. From this landfill there is a dirt road, leading to Paralia Sessi. A few km down this road there were again 1 or 2 police cars full. SO, the whole area was entirely under the control of the police who was taking note of who was passing by.  So, either the police did not their job well or they set the fire which started, from what I could see from home, at about the place where they usually stood. (On July 7th when there was the fight, I had witnessed guys with blue motorcycles setting fire here and there. Those guys were from the civil police as we understood later). 2/ Who set the forest on fire ? I heard people say on the radio that the people from Grammatiko had set the forest on fire: How could it be since the judgment for the anticonstitutional de-characterizing of the Green zone by ND was to be given next month? Who is interested in the decharacterizing ? if not Mr Maniatis, Hiotakis, Nakos, Bobolas, Latsis and so on ? Local villagers love their green region, which is the last green area of Attica. They do not set their own place on fire! Especially when they fight so hard against a landfill, by using legal means. Forestry is protected by the Constitution, that is why the Grammatiko residents sued the Government against the Landfill. BUT once burned down, it is no longer a forest, as experience has shown....therefore the legal battle fought by villagers becomes worthless. 3/On Friday night August 21 2009 A member of our association was eating at the Ano Souli taverna when he noticed that there was a continual procession , by waves, of police cars, civil police cars, fire brigade, DEH, water tank trucks that were driving really fast, without their siren on, (as they usually have when there is a fire) i.e a complete mobilisation... ( about 25 cars) at around 9:45pm. he left the taverna and noticed that the police had already blocked the 3 entrances to Grammatiko....    That night we saw from our house the fire in the valley going to Sessi. We went to the place where Helios Airways crashed taking a secondary dirt road. We had no other choice since the police were blocking all the roads preventing even the population of  Grammatiko to bring water tanks to help stop the fire! It was about 11;30 pm. The fire had already reached the place of the landfill. What we saw is that the fire was progressing but the 5 fire brigade trucks were guarding the 4 machines instead of trying to put out the blaze. When the fire became too important they emptied their trucks on the machines and around but not on the fire. If they had been at the place where we were the fire then could have been controlled. (See photo where the lights to the left is the concentration of the fire brigade. The picture is taken from where the tail of the Helios Airways plane had fallen, nothwards) 4/ On Saturday Morning August 22nd Early Saturday morning we went back there and noticed that the whole place of the future landfill was completely clean, it is so much easier and economical to clean the place with a fire than with bulldozers. Seven fire brigade trucks had come back to protect them, together with the riot police and the police and water tanks. The fire took another direction towards Grammatiko and Varnavas and once more the firebrigade did the same thing as the previous night. (See photo taken at 7:33am- same angle as previous) The canadairs arrived too late, we had already gone not to be cut off for our retreat.They had received orders not to fly since the fire was under control, as we learned reading the press. 5/ This landfill The contract signed between Ilektor and Lambda Techniki is for a landfill the cost of which is 22ME. The survey sent to the EU to get the subsidiaries speaks of recycling plants ??? probably, since they amount about 250ME. We also know that the income got by ESKDNA for the treatment of wastes in Liossia/Phili amounts more than 500ME… In this contract it is written that the security of the engines is the contractor’s business, (Art.3, p 5and 6) so why does the Greek taxpayer  should pay for it? 6/ Questions A -When the fire approached dangerously the village on Saturday at a very high speed... could not the contractor use his machines to make a protection zone so that some houses would have been saved?  Epitaxi?  B-  Real estate developers could not possibly have set the fire because the area has been of no commercial interest since the Landfill works had started. Who wants to live near a landfill? That would be a very lousy business decision. It is possible that they took advantage of the situation later on when the blaze was approaching the northern suburbs. C- Who gave the order to the fire brigade not to act to stop the blaze? We are exactly in the situation described by Platon in his Republic VIII, 562,563 about tyranny....  We are at your disposal whenever you want. Regards Brigitte thanasoulas

Where are

I accuse !!!!....

Those who set the whole region on fire, at night, with a wind blowing 8 Beaufort.

Those who gave the orders to the fire brigade to give priority to protect the contractor's machines instead of fighting the blaze... See pictures.

Where is Kyriakos Mitsotakis responsible for the environment ?

Where is Georgios Souflias Minister of Environment among other titles...?

Where are Greenpeace? WWF ? See the turtle alive but all 4 burnt ? Couldn't escape quickly really...

Where are Mr Maniatis? Mr Hiotakis ? Mr Bobolas? Mr Latsis ? Mr Pikramenos ? Mr Pavlopoulos ? and finally Mr Karamanlis ????  in jet set islands spending holidays ? while the blaze is radically cleaning  the once upon a time so beautiful wild Mavro Vouno who really now deserves that fatal name ?

Now that the northern winds push all the heavy smoke to Dionysos, Ekali, Politeia, Kifissia, Athina everyone will understand the future toxic fumes that will cover them soon with the ready-to-use well cleaned site for landfill

crimes against humankind

That's why we ought to sue them for crimes against humankind.... Imagine a second Nuremberg in Athens ?.... But for that we ought to have data from the church who delivers the death certificates.... What do you think ?

--- On Fri, 8/21/09, Μιχάλης Αποστολόπουλος <map@otenet.gr> wrote:

From: Μιχάλης Αποστολόπουλος <map@otenet.gr>
Subject: ΟΜΑΔΙΚΟ ΜΗΝΥΜΑ - Η ΑΝΑΣΑ της Αττικής
To: "Μιχάλης Αποστολόπουλος" <map@otenet.gr>
Date: Friday, August 21, 2009, 3:41 AM

Αίσχος και ΝΤΡΟΠΗ σε όλους αυτούς που αποφάσισαν

να καταστρέψουν την Ανατολική Αττική.. με παρωχημένες μεθόδους για τα

σκουπίδια... μιας υπερκαταναλωτικής κοινωνίας σκουπιδιών.

Περισσότερα με ένα κλικ στην εικόνα

MikeA

Μάκης Βορίδης: Η δημιουργία χωματερών είναι έγκλημα απέναντι στο περιβάλλον

---

By Aristotelis - Posted on 29 Ιούλιος 2009

Συνέντευξη του Μάκη Βορίδη στην εφημερίδα «Ελεύθερη Ώρα»

Μπορείτε να μας πείτε τι ήταν αυτό που σας έκανε να βρεθείτε στο πλευρό των κατοίκων του Γραμματικού και της Κερατέας απέναντι στην αστυνομία;

Την περασμένη Τρίτη η κυβέρνηση της Νέας Δημοκρατίας αποφάσισε ότι πρέπει ξαφνικά να ασχοληθεί και με το πρόβλημα της διαχείρισης των απορριμμάτων της Αττικής. Έτσι μετά από πέντε χρόνια απραξίας, πήρε την απόφαση να εφαρμόσει τις ιδέες και την πολιτική του ΠΑΣΟΚ πάνω σε αυτό το τόσο σοβαρό θέμα.

Τι λένε αυτές; Με δυο λόγια, όσο πιο απλά και σύντομα γίνεται, για να λυθεί το πρόβλημα των απορριμμάτων θα πρέπει να κατασκευαστούν νέες χωματερές στην Αττική. Και πού θα γίνουν αυτές; Στην Κερατέα και το Γραμματικό. Η πατρότητα αυτής της ιδέας μπορεί να ανήκει βέβαια στο ΠΑΣΟΚ, αλλά δυστυχώς εφαρμόζεται από την Νέα Δημοκρατία. Έχουμε ακόμα μια ταύτιση απόψεων μεταξύ αυτών των δυο κομμάτων!

Το πρωί της Τρίτης λοιπόν, ενημερώθηκα από τους κατοίκους του Γραμματικού ότι έχουν έρθει τα ΜΑΤ και προσπαθούν να τους επιβάλουν με την βία την χωματερή. Βρέθηκα αμέσως εκεί θέλοντας να συμπαρασταθώ στον αγώνα των κατοίκων του Γραμματικού και προσπαθώντας και εγώ να αποτρέψω όσο μπορώ την νέα πραγματικότητα που θέλουν να επιβάλλουν. Και δεν σας κρύβω ότι ήρθα σε πολύ δύσκολη θέση βλέποντας το κράτος να χρησιμοποιεί τους μηχανισμούς που διαθέτει, και συγκεκριμένα την αστυνομία, για να επιβάλει μια λάθος απόφαση που είναι βέβαιο ότι θα οδηγήσει σε οικολογική καταστροφή της περιοχής.

Είστε αντίθετος στην κατασκευή ΧΥΤΑ στην περιοχή ή είστε αντίθετος στην κατασκευή νέων ΧΥΤΑ γενικώς; Και τι θα γίνει με τα σκουπίδια, δεδομένου ότι οι ήδη υπάρχουσες χωματερές δεν επαρκούν;

Εμείς ως ΛΑ.Ο.Σ., αλλά και εγώ προσωπικά, έχουμε εκφράσει κατ’ επανάληψιν τις θέσεις μας πάνω στο θέμα της διαχείρισης των απορριμμάτων συνολικά. Ανακύκλωση, κατασκευή δεύτερου εργοστασίου μηχανικής ανακύκλωσης στην Αθήνα, επιλογή τεχνολογίας επεξεργασίας (π.χ. καύσης) και μεσοπρόθεσμα μετατροπή του υφιστάμενου ΧΥΤΑ στην Φυλή σε ΧΥΤΥ. Υπάρχουν πολλοί τρόποι να διαχειριστεί κανείς τα απορρίμματα και εμείς ως ΛΑ.Ο.Σ. τους έχουμε προτείνει και μέσα στην Βουλή αλλά και στην κοινωνία.

Δυστυχώς όμως στην πολιτική ηγεσία του ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ επικρατεί η εμμονή ότι η μόνη λύση για τα σκουπίδια είναι νέες χωματερές. Ε, αυτό είναι λάθος. Η δημιουργία επιπλέον χωματερών, γιατί για αυτό πρόκειται, κακά τα ψέματα, ισοδυναμεί με έγκλημα απέναντι στο περιβάλλον, είναι αντίθετη στην Ευρωπαϊκή Νομοθεσία και σε τελική ανάλυση είναι σε βάρος των συμφερόντων του ελληνικού λαού.

Δηλαδή αν κατάλαβα καλά είστε εναντίον των νέων ΧΥΤΑ. Προτείνετε δηλαδή την δημιουργία εργοστασίων επεξεργασίας απορριμμάτων, σαν και αυτά που υπάρχουν σε πολλές ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις;

Ακριβώς. Για την ακρίβεια αυτή είναι και η μόνη άμεση, σοβαρή και υπεύθυνη λύση αν κάποιος θέλει να συζητήσει για εθνική διαχείριση απορριμμάτων. Οι ΧΥΤΑ αποτελούν ήδη μια λύση του παρελθόντος για την Ε.Ε. και σε λίγο θα απαγορευθεί και η λειτουργία τους. Δεν είναι λογικό και από οικονομικής πλευράς να επενδύεις εκατομμύρια ευρώ και να καταστρέφεις περιοχές, αλλά και την ενδοχώρα της Αττικής, για να οδηγηθούμε σε τρία χρόνια σε κλείσιμο των ΧΥΤΑ. Απορώ δε, με όσους δεν το έχουν αντιληφθεί ακόμα.

Τι ενέργειες έχετε κάνει μέχρι τώρα για την αντιμετώπιση αυτής της κατάστασης;

Όλοι γνωρίζουν ότι ήδη από την εκλογή μου ως νομαρχιακός σύμβουλος και προ της εκλογής μου ως βουλευτής, με παρεμβάσεις μου στο Νομαρχιακό Συμβούλιο Ανατολικής Αττικής, με ερωτήσεις μου στην Βουλή στα πλαίσια του κοινοβουλευτικού ελέγχου, με παρεμβάσεις μου στην Επιτροπή Περιβάλλοντος της Βουλής, με την παρουσία μου σε όλες τις κινητοποιήσεις των κατοίκων του Γραμματικού και της Κερατέας, έχω κινητοποιηθεί όσο μπορούσα για να αντισταθώ στην εξέλιξη που ζούμε σήμερα στο Γραμματικό. Είμαστε το μόνο κόμμα που προτείναμε την επανεξέταση του Περιφερειακού Σχεδιασμού, προτείναμε να τεθεί το πρόβλημα της διαχείρισης των απορριμμάτων σε εθνικό επίπεδο και όχι σε τοπικό. Προσωπικά έκανα προσφυγή στην Επιτροπή Αναφορών του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, ενώ πέραν και της φυσικής μου παρουσίας δίπλα στους κατοίκους, έκανα και παράσταση ενώπιον του προϊσταμένου της Εισαγγελίας Πλημμελειοδικών Αθηνών και μετά και τα πρόσφατα γεγονότα κατέθεσα και ως μάρτυρας υπέρ της Νομαρχίας Ανατολικής Αττικής και της κοινότητας Γραμματικού σε προκαταρκτική εξέταση που διεξάγεται.

Υπάρχουν όμως και αυτοί που λένε ότι η στάση της Ανατολικής Αττικής είναι εγωιστική και κοντόφθαλμη, ότι αδιαφορεί για το πρόβλημα της διαχείρισης των απορριμμάτων, ότι θέλει τα σκουπίδια της στην αυλή των άλλων;

Είναι εντυπωσιακό το πώς λειτουργούν οι μηχανισμοί παραπληροφόρησης. Δηλαδή όταν ο Δήμος Αθηναίων και οι δήμοι της Β’ Αθηνών στέλνουν τα σκουπίδια στα Λιόσια και στην Φυλή, δεν τα στέλνουν στην αυλή της Δυτικής Αττικής; Πού τα στέλνουν; Στην δική τους αυλή; Όταν με βάση αυτόν τον κακό περιφερειακό σχεδιασμό έπρεπε να έχουν γίνει αρκετοί σταθμοί μεταφόρτωσης στην Αθήνα, και αντί για αυτούς έχει γίνει ένας, τότε ποιος ολιγωρεί; Όταν το εργοστάσιο μηχανικής ανακύκλωσης δουλεύει ήδη στο 100%, γιατί δεν φτιάχνουμε ένα ακόμη ώστε να συνεχίζεται η ανακύκλωση που ουσιαστικά έχει παραμείνει στάσιμη; Τέλος γιατί ενώ προβλέπεται η δημιουργία ΟΕΔΑ, πάλι με βάση τον περιφερειακό σχεδιασμό, η κυβέρνηση ενδιαφέρεται μόνο για τους ΧΥΤΑ;

Η κυβέρνηση, ο κ. Μαρκογιαννάκης και ο κ. Νάκος αποφάσισαν ότι πρέπει να χρησιμοποιούν τις 20 διμοιρίες ΜΑΤ από τις 30 για να πολιορκούν ένα χωριό και τους νομιμόφρονες κατοίκους του αντί να πάνε να πιάσουν κανένα κουκουλοφόρο ή κανένα εγκληματία. Πολύ σοβαρή πολιτική πράξη. Τους συγχαίρουμε όλοι οι πολίτες της Αττικής. Μπράβο τους και ευχόμαστε και εις ανώτερα. Ο ξυλοδαρμός γερόντων και παιδιών είναι σπουδαία πολιτική πράξη.

Κλείνοντας, τι πιστεύετε ότι θα γίνει από εδώ και πέρα;

Αυτό είναι δύσκολο να το προβλέψω. Το μόνο σίγουρο είναι τόσο εγώ προσωπικά, όσο και ο ΛΑ.Ο.Σ., θα κάνουμε ό,τι μπορούμε για να σταματήσουμε την επερχόμενη καταστροφή. Είναι κρίμα να βλέπουμε το κράτος να στέφεται εναντίον των πολιτών και είναι ακόμα μεγαλύτερο κρίμα το κράτος να στρέφεται εναντίον της φύσης. Οι ευθύνες δεν βαραίνουν μόνο την Νέα Δημοκρατία και το ΠΑΣΟΚ που προκαλούν αυτή την οικολογική καταστροφή, αλλά θα βαραίνουν και όσους δεν θα αντισταθούν σε αυτό.

Η συνέντευξη δημοσιεύθηκε στο φύλλο της 19ης Ιουλίου 2009 της εφημερίδας Ελεύθερη Ώρα

THE FIGHT OF A SMALL GREEK VILLAGE TO PRESERVE ITS QUALITY

Summary:

Greece is a country where the idea of processing waste is not yet fully developed in people’s mind, especially when we are talking of the populous inhabitants of the cities; it has already made quite a step in the mind and actions of the country’s landowners; but unfortunately, as far as the successive governments are concerned, there is a dramatic lack of will to solve the problem of solid wastes.

Overview on Greece and landfills:

As far as the Greek government’s policy is concerned, the agenda is the following: to try to justify the expense of the EEC subsidies – and attempt to obtain more – by showing a fictive progress in treating and recycling solid wastes while tampering with volumes and inflating numbers.

Let’s add an unfortunate lack of adaptation to the European directives. This inertia on the part of the Greek government results today in the adoption of measures already in general disuse or even forbidden nowadays by the EEC, such as landfills.

Greece is paying tremendous amounts in fines: 34,000.00 Euros per illegal landfill per day. There are approximately 400 landfills in the country today (they were more than 2000 before). This is of course shouldered by the common taxpayer.

As the waste is not sorted out from beginning, landfills fill in quickly and get saturated earlier than planned on paper. Major pollution in Greece and especially around Athens is already an established danger. Heavy metals pile up right now in the bed of the river Assopos, which pours freely, since the last 25 years, a concentration of chromes and pesticides, right into the Gulf of Evvia. In average, it has already exceeded the EEC tolerated threshold by 100.

At Phili, at Ano Liossia (the two main landfills for Athens), ground water and undersea pollution is such that epidemiological studies are top-secret. Hospital waste is mixed with other wastes all over Greece instead of being incinerated as the law states.

There is a complete lack of reliability in most recycling works in Greece: polluting recycling plants working without filters; treated mud at Psitallia without drying plants; deficiency of material or knowledge; and lack of competent staff.

Whatever is recycled (RDF, compost) is being refused by companies interested in buying it because the final product is not clean (due to lack of sorting out and presence of heavy metals). Those already recycled but dirty products are going back to Ano Liossia and Phili where they pile up. These two landfills actually receive waste from all over Greece on top of Athens’s. By closing 800 landfills, the government just meant to try and contain the amount of fines, not to resolve the waste problem by creating plants.

Case in point (and ongoing):

The Greek Government is proceeding now – as you read this - with an illegal program of complementary landfills for Athens at Grammatiko and Keratea. On the paper it seems that - supported with serious environmental studies - modern technologies and recycling plants will be implemented on these sites. All is up to date. The truth is, there is a unanimous lack of trust today from the population of Grammatiko and Keratea towards

the Greek Government’s plans. And they are right. These sites are in reality going to be dumping grounds, polluting the environment, a danger to public health, implemented with obsolete technology, with no serious survey.

This new landfill plan came to them like a fait accompli, with no preliminary discussion: not even with the local elected representatives. Furthermore, the deadline from the EEC to close all illegal landfills in Greece is already passed. It should have happened by the end of 2008 and we are talking there of one of the deadlines. 2006 and 2007 were also supposed to see the end of landfills as a solution. The Greek government asked for an extension to 2012. The EEC agreed on yet another deadline, July 16 2009. 4 years have already gone – shall we say – wasted?

Some years ago Mr. Economopoulos, of the University of Crete, was ordered a survey by the ministry of Environment (YPEHODE), via TEDKNA (Association of Attica Mayors, whose President is Mr. Kaloyeropoulos). It indicates seven important centers of recycling plants in different places of Greece that have no risk on people’s health. This survey has just been re-actualized but has always been rejected by the successive governments in place. They want to keep control on the waste business in Attica because it is lucrative, thanks also to the EEC subsidies. (See www.oxistoxyta.gr)

Grammatiko :

The village of Grammatiko is located at equal distance to two archaeological sites of some significance, Rhamnous and Amphiarion, and less than 6 miles away from the famous site of Marathon. The entire area had burned in the 80’ and was classified as green reforest zone protected by the constitution.

· It is now arbitrarily downgraded from this green status by the current government to “legalize” the landfill. As of today, however, the legal court judgment for the downgrade is still pending and the area still under the protection of the constitution. This makes illegal any work to prepare a landfill there. Yet since July 8^th, trucks are working illegally on a preserved area, protected by storm troopers.

· The landowners of the affected area have not as yet received the official announcement that their land is being turned into a landfill. They have received no deed of expropriation either, even though the EEC has already granted 800,000.00 Euros for that purpose. Yet since July 8^th, trucks are working illegally on private properties, protected by storm troopers.

· A professional geological study had been made in the past by the IGME (National Geological Institute of Greece) declaring the site incompatible for geological and seismic reasons. Polluted waters would run into the Evvia Gulf and the Marathon Lake, Athens’ water reservoir. The area is inadequate and the sea around Evvia and Marathon, fisheries, beaches, tourism and everything business and health related are therefore threatened by this plan. Yet as you are reading, these works have begun since July 8^th.

· Last but not least the chosen area for the landfill will be located at the exact same spot where 122 Cypriots died in the Helios Airways crash on August 14, 2005. A chapel has been erected and stands there today.

Deadlines from the EEC and surprising reaction:

Today, Greece might loose the funds granted by the EEC (for the tidy sum of 200 million of Euros). Brussels finally imposed yet another deadline for July 16, 2009. This raises the question of how many deadlines can you give a country and how can you pressure it further?

However, the only palpable result is not the one expected. The government decided to ignore the repeated court appeals from the inhabitants of Grammatiko and Keratea and forced through at the last minute with the landfill plan, using military and police forces against the population (2,500 inhabitants in the area) to let the first trucks pass on (Kathimerini, To Bima, Ta Nea… July 8, 2009). This reaction is not only out of proportion in the development of its strength against a small population, but also comes a week before the end of the EEC deadline, which might be seen as suspicious.

The forces of law and order (riot police and police in civilian clothes, the military police and the firefighters) came by air, sea and land, and confronted violently the frustrated inhabitants. The riot police did not hesitate to target a few elderly persons, who were beaten up in the middle of the fight. Mr Boussoloulas, an inhabitant of Grammatiko, is still hospitalized with very serious injuries and multiple fractures on the leg with the risk to losing it and being handicapped for life. Seven storm troopers fell upon him. During the confrontation, all the local elected representatives were arrested.

The Mayor of Grammatiko, Nicolas Koukis, was beaten up and fainted. He was later arrested at the hospital and was trialed almost straight away with a suspicious zeal and sternness, in a country not especially famous for the swiftness of its judicial system. He was finally released, with interdiction to leave the country and obligation to sign in every two months at the police station like a criminal. The five other people arrested for “criminal activities” were released on July 10^th with the same judgment. Their release was more of a political decision to calm down the population: elections are coming and all the newspapers covered the event and backed up the population.

Protagonists:

Two companies and two mayors’ associations are involved in this program and will benefit from it.

· ILEKTOR is owned by Mr. Bobolas. ILEKTOR participates in almost every single government’s invitation to tender and usually prevails, realizing most of public works and monopolizing the market. The company owns one of the most prominent television channels in Greece, called Mega Channel, politically oriented and influential.

· LAMBDA DEVELOPMENT is part of Mr. Latsis Group. Among others, Latsis Group owns EUROBANK.

Ilektor and Lambda Development will be the contractors and master-builders for the landfill in Grammatiko-Keratea. This will be financed by the EEC, which means big money, and as it happens alas too often in Greece, little will be seen on the site of Grammatiko, wherever else it will go.

But the most important is that no Greek company possesses the know-how to build those recycling or incinerating factories. They will need to make joint-ventures. The fact is that the Greek population has no confidence in the capacity of the government to control the quality of the work done. The government is not even willing to impose European

standards on Greek industrials. The fines are ridiculously low- thus encouraging the companies to continue as they have always done.

ESDKNA (Association of the Mayors of Athens and Suburbs), and TEDKNA (Association of the Mayors of Attica) are in charge of managing wastes.

• Mr Hiotakis - president of the association ESKDNA and also the mayor of Kifissia,
• Mr Kaklamanis, the mayor of Athens, and Mr Fassoulas, the mayor of Piraeus

( the 2 main contributors to the landfill in volume and weight, who do nothing as far as recycling is concerned)

• and TEDKNA

force upon the government to apply the wrong solution of landfills at Grammatiko and in Keratea. The Mayor of Kifissia insists that “Athens is going to become Naples if this plan is not realized immediately” [sic]. Mr Hiotakis is contributing to that problem by accepting illegally thousands of tons of solid wastes from all over Greece, which are thrown at Ano Liossia and Phili, shortening thus the life expectancy of those landfills. This explains why he wants to open two more landfills in Grammatiko and in Keratea. The fact that Mr Hiotakis accepts wastes from other provinces than Attica was brought up at the National Assembly at the Commission of the Environmentas as being illegal. Its president is Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, M.P. It is interesting to know that he is the brother of Mrs. Bakoyianni-Kouvelou, Foreign Affairs, ex-mayor of Athens. Did he override in some way this illegality thus permitting Grammatiko to become a landfill?

Conclusion :

The Greek Government just made a convincing demonstration of its ability to act strongly and swiftly when needed. Wouldn’t it be wiser to put these qualities to use on making plans for really efficient and modern recycling plants everywhere in Greece? These plants exist everywhere in European countries nowadays.

We ask Brussels deciders:

• to stop financing those deadly projects,
• to put a program of checks and balance for the works done, since they help finance: where does the money go, how plants are built, what are the security measures, etc.
• to dialogue with the local representatives (associations, the mayor and the village council…) and take into account the different complaints made at the EEC by the local population and not just listen to the government lies, in order
• Not to waste European tax payers money plus Greek tax payers, and thus contribute in an off-hand manner to the aggravation of the local corruption. For example, how can they finance other landfills while imposing fines for them at the same time?
• To help us protect the environment and people’s quality of life, organize more national parks.

These regions of Grammatiko and Keratea are the last green lungs around the ever-growing Athens. If Greeks cannot trust their own politicians, then let it be heard everywhere, to everyone who loves Greece, to all the defenders of wildlife, and to all who seek freedom of speech and reasonable ways to solve a conflict: we Greeks of a small unknown village, we appeal to you, to the whole world, to the power of mouth to ear. Help us put pressure on the leaders who go wasting our planet with short sighted programs to suit their own electoral/financial agendas!

Mavro Vouno, the Black Mountain, site for the upcoming landfill.

Mavro Vouno, Black Mountain, future landfill dominating the sea.

Page 6

Another view from Mavro Vouno, habitations, and beach.

Ano Liossia, landfill for Athens and full since a few years.

Page 7

Ano Liossia, Athens’ landfill. See any recycling plants there?

Confrontation July 7, 2009 (To BHMA, July 8, 2009)

Confrontation July 7, 2009 (Kathimerini, July 8, 2009)

Barrage of the riot police

After the confrontation: the police riot burned the cars that were used as barricade by the population.

Bruises on an elderly inhabitant of Grammatiko.

Burns from Gas