Sales time in Athens, forests burn to make way for new developments

Yes its sales time in Athens, what everyone has been waiting for, and i had hoped to write a bit about that but as fires pop up i get so angry that i have to write about them. Maybe i should just just the name of this to FIRE WATCH ATHENS. Sure is catchy, but i wish it were not necessary.


First a little background...
For the past two months community groups have been organising in the suburb of Vyronas and Kaisarianni to protest the proposed land development of the forested area which borders these suburbs. The church 'claims' that these areas belong to them. I say 'claim' because this is disputed and there are court actions to clarify this situation. The church has proposed a series of property developments in this forested area, and also claim to offer cheap housing to those with three children or more.
The locals have been protesting on their own against these land developments for two months, no thanks to the local Communist party who have been covering up the community posters with their own. Whole sections of blank wall to deface and they chose to cover up the local community groups home made posters pleading to save the environment. Bunch of....

Anyway three fires started simultaneously yesterday at around three o'clock. The local fire watch patrol saw a car drive to and from the area where one of the fires started. At the other end of the forested area a moterbike without plates was seen leaving the area by firefighters as they approached and the third fire started at the bottom, close to the road.

In other words the fires were strategically placed to burn of a specific square section of forested land, land which coincidently coincides with the area the church and builders want to develop. Land which has most probably already been sold and earmarked for building.
Coincidently the land burnt included the two hills which offered the best views of Athens.
Coincidently the same land burnt was the land claimed by the church, which excercises certain exemptions when it comes to building codes in Greece.

Coincidently... there are too many coincidences...

Photos taken from http://www.e-tipos.gr/ whose front page headlines "Everything points to Arson"

And in the end what was achieved...

The big question now is What have we achieved by our protest?
I must admit, following the protest many people said Wow Great! Its good that people went, but when i ask if they went the common reply was "Nooo, why should i, nothing will change, all the politicians are corrupt/incompetent and nothing will ever change".

Well in part i agree with them and i truly understand where they are coming from. I am not naive (well maybe a little) and i know how things work here in Greece. But the 5000 at least who turned up - we knew the truth but we did not let that get us down. In my opinion if you do nothing then can you complain if you get ignored? Why should the politicians change their ways?
By at least making our voices heard, by protesting, by engaging in this Sysiphian task at least we are trying to change things. Lets not make things easy for them.

I also believe that the people who turned up were REAL Greeks, people who were really concerned about this land and country than a political party.

Athenians protest to protect the environment

Where will Red Riding Hood walk if there are no forests left?

July 8th saw Athens largest non-politically organised protest since the fall of the dictatorship.
This was truly an amazing occurance, people of all walks of life came, grannies with walking sticks, Death metal heads sporting Metallica shirts, Hippies, Cyclists and Bikers, families came pushing their children in prams, Goths came with piercings in various body parts.
It didn't matter who you were, rich or poor, thousands came to Syntagma square to voice their protest over the fires and to make sure that it would be re-forested. Police estimate that when the area in front of Parliament house fills up with people, that equals 5000 people. Some people like Tsipras who recently ran as a candidate for Athens mayor estimated that as many as 40000 people came.

This rally really opened my eyes. Other rallies are politically backed and feature rent-a-crowds. Political Parties organise buses to ensure that people turn up, speeches are held and people turn up to prove their faith to the political party, real issues that affect people are rarelt raised.

Instead what we saw in Athens on Sunday were real people, people who felt that this time things had gone too far. People who really felt passionately that something had to be done and wanted to let all politicians know how angry they were.
In a symbolic gesture some people placed a plant in front of the tomb of the Unknown soldier. Police quickly swept in to remove the offending plant. This action provoked boo's and contempt from the crowd which started to crowd in closer to the tomb. The police quickly retreated.
A child then stepped forward from the amassed crowd and laid a burnt branch from Parnitha at the foot of the tomb. This was soon followed by others.

WWF was also there, as were many other bloggers who were influential in making the protest a reality.
http://salata.wordpress.com/ organised a unique demonstration. Dressed as businessmen they chanted slogans such as "Trees take up parking spots" "Deers just shit in the woods and dont turn a profit" and "Burn and Build, construction companies elect governments".
Unfortunately their dark satirical humour rang true, too true.

But i cannot stress enough how impressive this protest truly was. Over 5000 Athenians got up off their couches to protest and make their voices heard. They also performed the 'Moutza' (an open palmed insult) towards parliament building. The crowd also cried out 'Eshos' - Shame, disgrace...

I should also point out that the government spin machine is in full force and orchestrated an almost complete media blackout. Government TV stations did not report on it and instead the media is following a four year old scandal which implicates the previous government as being incompetent (and the current one too if you ask me, over 4 years to find out the obvious, they have to be incompetent to miss that). They are also reporting on how well Pendeli is being reforested. Now thats a scandal that they can truly point towards the previous government, because it is not being reforested and the old forest now features villas and highways where once trees and goat tracks existed. The only reason they are not pointing the finger is if they themselves are also implicated. - ESHOS -

Most Newspapers are completly ignoring it too, except for Ta Nea and Eleutherotypia. How the media can be so corrupt and complicent to the government line still amazes me. This is why, in part i write this blog and why i write it in English, so that those who live outside can also realise what is happening here.

But as the people, by their mere turning up to the protest exhibited, this shame will not be tolerated for much longer and we will be watching.

Correction

Well, while people may be turning to blogs for activism and the truth, we are fallible!

I must issue a correction. I said a couple of days ago that a law should be passed banning apartments being built where forests use to be. Well such a law exists, not only that, but apparently nothing is allowed to be built until it gets re-forested as it was before, in other words something like a 100 years have to pass first.

Which reminds me, Greece has passed some of the best laws and was well ahead of its time. Take for example the bill allowing the Athens Metro to be built which was passed in the 1890's. Well ahead of its time and foretelling the needs of the future. Trouble is it took over 100 years for the Metro to be built.

In effect this and other laws are never enforced, not a single builder has been brought to court, no fine given, nothing whatsoever. Do the police suffer from blindness? Are the local Mayors indifferent? Does the electricty company not realise where they are connecting electricty?

Well this is where corruption rears its ugly head, how else to explain it? A comedian, Lazopoulos, which i dont like, raised a similar point. He recounted how he overheard developers talkign about where they were going to build after the fire in Penteli, selling plots of land, and has justice been dealt? No.

However in a recent development, Home owners in Salamina have been receiving fines because their houses have been illegally built, maybe justice does act, but like the case with the Metro, 100 years has to pass first. This is a pitfall for many home buyers who are purchasing old houses/apartments, they often realise too late that the house they just bought is illegal and face huge fines. So if buying proprty in Greece, caveat emptor!

Greeks utilise new media to enact change

The traditional news media has turned to its usual tricks. Government media and right wing stations like Antenna are glossing over the fire and are presenting things in a manner where everything has returned to normal. Center-left media like Mega are trying to place blame on government inaction for the fires. Meanwhile STAR channel is back to showing bums on beaches and an expose on the daily fashion of morning tv presenters!
SKAI tv, though new on the scene and traditionaly politically right leaning, seems to have an enlightened production and editorial team and is actually reporting on the environmental consequences of the fire.

Experts interviewed predict a rise in the temprature in Athens of approx. 2 degrees which suggests that we will be facing a few more heat waves this summer. We should also expect major flooding of suburbs here in Athens as there is now nothing to retain the water as it comes flooding down Parnitha mountain. Air quality is also expected to decrease, with all this bad news maybe i should turn to bums on beaches to forget it all.

Faced with these outcomes Athenians have turned to blogs, emails and SMSs to rally people together to voice their protest over the fires and to demand that these areas are re-forested. While Greeks like to protest, most of them are orchestrated by the different parties. This one is unique as it appears to have come about from the people themselves.
Tired of being managed, lied to with empty promises, honestly scared by what they have seen and realistic of what will become of these burnt areas, they themselves have turned to the only media that they have a voice in, and have utilised it for action. It's amazing the way these emails and messages have spread out, they have spread out like a virus, from network to network, company to competitor, where they have been met with agreement. At the moment the only stumbling block may be laziness, oh, and those bums at the beaches.

Despite that, lets hope it works.

So if you are in Athens, July 8 come and see the protest at 7 o'clock Syntagma Square.

Don't worry - Its the forests fault

Parnitha before


Parnitha now


In a dramatic turn of events, the Minister of Public Order Byron Polydoros announced over the weekend that the fault of the forest fire was a direct result of the forest being there and that it was growing wild, too closely together and it was too green.

Well i for one am glad that its been solved - pesky forests - growing as they please!
Though perhaps, if we give him the benefit of the doubt, what he might have wanted to say is that there was no Forest Management system in place. Well at least i hope so.

The President of Greece said that it was a day of mourning, he asked the nation to consider what legacy will be left to our children if we continue to disregard nature. The Prime Minister in turn promised that Parnitha and all the areas struck by fires will be re-forested and he emphasised "I say it and i mean it" which makes me wonder about the other things he said...

Cynicism blooms as promises are made

A pro-government newspaper Eleutheri Ora had as its headline today 'Parnitha re-forested with
apartment blocks and maissonetes. ' The reason for this cynicism is because its an Election year.
What's this got to do with anything i hear you ask. Well unfortunately elections in Greece are a time when general amnesty's are given.
For example, to help pedestrians - cars parked on footpaths were fined in Athens. When Dora Bakoyianni became Mayor of Athens, the first thing she did was to give a reprieve to all those who had been fined - end result - everyone parks where they want, don't pay the fine and wait for the next reprieve.

The same goes for illegal houses/bars etc. A famous cartoonist (Kyr) showed a house being built on the Acropolis with the caption "No worries, some politician will come along and make it legal"

In another example of blatant transgression of the laws, Greek Media Magnate Kyriakou apparently extended the training ground of his team onto the grounds of a large park in Athens. Opposition media SKAI tv together with the local pensioners association and Boy Scout troup organised a re-planting on Public Property. Angered by this, Kyriakou called in the police who wielded their truncheons on kids and eldery who were planting trees on public property.

But enough cynicism, lets hope for the best.

Meanwhile concern has also been raised over the plight of the last remaining red deer of Greece. People's reaction to this was

"What, we still have deer in Greece!?!?"

Well apparently we do. Again we hope that something gets done.

Politicians point fingers while Greece burns

Picture from leading newspaper Ta Nea- http://www.tanea.gr/

As Athens woke up this morning to the smell of burning fires and witnessed their cars covered in a fine sheet of ash, the reality of events began to settle.

While i was writing yesterdays blog, politicians came out and announced that recent upgrades will ensure no power outages or restrictions and no-one had to fear the fires as everything was ready. Hours later a major power station in the region of Macedonia, overburdened by electricy demand, blew its fuses sending a casquede effect down the lines, plunging the whole of northern Greece into a blackout.

Meanwhile the fires increased in intensity and numbers jumping to over 300 flare-up according to government news media. Of the 22 fire fighting planes, only nine were capable of flying and of those, two returned to base for maintence. Politicians who were previously telling everyone that everything was under control began to realise that we were now facing the most devastating fire in a decade. People whose houses were under threat from the fires appeared on tv to plead for firefighters to make an appearance to save their homes, firefighters in turn blamed understaffing (They claim that there are 4000 positions to be filled in their ranks). The government blamed the opposition for years of lax management. The opposition blamed the current government for not implementing any change, and the Communists... well they blamed the dominant two party system and the imperialist capitalist system and advocated a fundamental change to the political system.

Firefighters clock out - Volunteers clock in

Meanwhile the mayor of Parnitha, home to the last vestiges of green forest in the Attica basin, Athens lungs so to speak came out and pleaded for HELP and pointed out that finger pointing can be done later, but that he needed help NOW, before it was to late. Help did come. Apparently as the firefighters shift ended last night they abandoned two water tankers, these were commandeered by some 50 volunteers, some of them army, who went out by themselves to fight the fires.

Already at the sites of two fires evidence of foul play was found. At one a warning flare was found and at another a petrol jerry can with 30 shotgun shells. Some of the morning media have already pointed the finger at building companies who have been eyeing these green areas for building development for a number of years.

Right now Greece is asking for help from its neighbours in fighting these fires, unfortunately when the fires are quenched i fear that the same complacency that existed before will return. Sure much finger wagging will be had, voices raised on the television and a number of good plans raised, but if those who are at fault don't step up and admit fault nothing will change.

And to whom do i point and wag my finger - Well the fault is our own. Sure some can say that the government is corrupt and inneficient, or that many of the firefighters were only chosen according to whom they voted and only wanted a job where they were not expected to do anything. And those poor 'innocent' people who appeared on tv and cried for their houses to be saved, houses which were built not ten meters away from the forest (In Greece it is illegal for houses to be built any closer to 50 meters from the forest) - sure we could blame them, or even cheer at some sort of cosmic karma, but that's too easy.

We are to blame because we do not DEMAND from OUR government accountability, even NGO's such as WWF who have been pointing out the lack of fire breaks and proper forest management seem to be content to just point things out but do not follow up. No one does.
Partly its our own greed. "Atrocious that houses are being built where forests used to be, but if i save up, i too can own a house there..." Another part is our own complacency or lack of fight, the current system has been so ingrained in us that we don't believe we can fight it.

That being said action should be done by the government, they are the only people who can legislate after all. Do what Spain does, ban any building on burnt areas for 20 years, that is a first step. Do what Australia does - educate children on dealing with fires and the law. I never lived near a forest yet i know what i should look out for if i live near a forest.

The forest fires are still burning, while this is tragic i hope that this will be a catalyst for change.

Here are some pictures from local newspapers;

http://www.e-tipos.gr/

Greece burns - Civil servants take the day off

Record Highs

This week has seen record tempratures all over Greece. Last Tuesday the temprature hit a whopping 47C degrees in the centre of Athens! In an effort to fight the heat all the air-conditioners were put on max which contributed to the high tempratures.

Living in a concrete city like Athens only excacerbates the high tempratures. Green gardens in front of apartments have been built over to increase the inside apartment space in many suburbs. A culture of car dependence (car showing off) means that many have bought the latest luxury/sporty car and drive it everywhere, even if its to the local shop for some milk, just so they don't have to walk and to show off. This too increases the temprature highs.

This has also caused a strain on energy supply, the government is informing everyone to shut off all non-essential appliances in an effort to reduce energy use. Greece imports a lot of its energy from near-by countries such as Bulgaria, Italy and Turkey. I should also mention that Greece is far behind in reaching its commitment to renewable energy, such as wind turbines etc.
A recent wind energy park proposal on an island is being faught by nearby residents citing concerns that it would impact tourism. Another dirty coal burning plant scheduled to be shut down is still operating, not because of the energy it produces, but the locals who are dying at the age of 50 because of the pollution the dinosaur of a plant produces, demanded it be kept operational for the jobs it supplied. And since they die earlier because of it, the least the government could do is give them government jobs.

The government has also ordered that public services cease at 12:00 midday. This is so that energy consumption can be reduced. Unfortunately many left and forgot to turn them off, meaning that nothing was achieved. That sort of sums up the public service actually.

Greece has also been struck by at least 75 seperate fires. The government is calling on other governments to help them combat the fires. While many of the fires may be accidental there is a lot of cynicism in the country regarding them. Many blame the excessive smoking which goes on and people just throwing their cigarette butts out the window. A greater majority however blame the citizens and builders. Previous fires have cleared large sections of wooded areas where it is illegal to build. After the fires, no wood/forests, building becomes no problem!
Penteli which still has some forest left was the site of major fires a few years ago. Now it is becoming heavily populated by houses and apartments.

Why haven't the media brought it up you ask and bring it to public attention?

I don't know. Of course what many Athenians cite is that many top rated journalists have bought houses there, so really they should know first hand about whats going on. But there are some very nice houses up there now, wouldn't have been possible without the fires...

...and so it goes.

Al Gore in Athens

While George Bush was getting his watch stolen in Albania, former Vice President Al Gore was touring giving a personal presentation of his award winning documentary of an Inconvenient Truth.

Now is it just me or am i always the last person to find out things that are happening in Athens. I moved to Athens because there are always a lot of things going on. Unfortunately, they happen so fast that they are usually over if you don't pay special attention. This is true for independent movies to lectures and presentations.

I had heard about the Al Gore lecture a week ago but could not find details on the where and the when, it was only when i picked up a free daily newspaper that i saw 'Tonights Happenings'. When i arrived at the Megaro Mousikis it was clear that many had heard. Admission was free and the hall he was presenting in was full within minutes (Granted many of these seats were reserved for dignitaries and journalists). A second hall was quickly filled to near capacity were we could see the presentation on the big screen via a live feed. A simultaneous interpretation into Greek made it easy for the Greek speakers to follow. Unfortunately when it became apparent that we would not be able to hear him in English, many left, i assume they were English speakers, American who wanted to hear him.

My impression on the night was varies, a lot of what he 'revealed' I was taught in High School back in Australia, and i went to a normal government school. So half of what he said was not new. The other half i suppose was just continuing on from where i had graduated school. In other words, Few shock revelations.
What was revealing was the power of Photographs, images were presented of what is happening to our earth and in this digital Youtube age it is easy to forget the power that a single frame image can have.

What was revealing was the statistics which a University study came up with.
Roughly - From over 900 academically refereed articles on Climate Change/Global Warming, none - 0- nada zilch presented it as though it was open for debate, in other words - it is happening and we are witnessing the early stages. In contrast
From over 600 news articles - 53% reported it as if it was still debatable. If that is the case - who are the Academics backing up these news articles - who do these journalists quote if it is debatable?

Why is it so I wonder?

On the whole however not being in the same room as Al Gore meant that i missed some of the enthusiasm and vigour he puts into his presentation and we only heard bits and pieces of it, from the vigorous applause he was receiving I assume he went down well.

Another thing I noticed is that cargo pants and satchel bags were the dress code of the day.

But too many questions for one day...

Taxi driver apprehended, thousands still free

I should note that the Champions League final was marred when a taxi driver beat up a Liverpool fan. According to news reports the fan and his children took the taxi from the airport to their hotel in Nea Makri. Upon arriving the driver requested 95 euros as his fee, when asked by the fan "why is it more than the 25 euros indicated by the meter" the driver offered him a discount and asked for only 75 euros. Most probably having had enough the fan asked for a reciept where he was then beaten in front of his children, and the taxi driver drove off with his luggage and more importantly his match tickets.

Now we hear that the police have actually caught the taxi driver in question (when asked he apparently didn't realise he left with their luggage but when he did find out he left it on the pavement so that a "concerned citizen" could return it to the rightfull owner.

HAH!

I have relatives who are taxi drivers, unfortunatly however it can be really painfull and stressfull should you have to deal with taxi drivers. You could wait half an hour shouting out your destination to 70 taxis in the hope that one of them will take you to where you want to go. When you get in, if you are female you will of course be chatted up (and if you're really lucky invited out to a night of Cretan dancing!). You will be driven through random suburbs, slowly so that the driver can pick up a second or third passenger. Another trick they do is flick the thumb up while changing gear and change the meter from zone 1 to zone 2. Zone 2 is double and is used only after midnight. So if you land in Athens at 11:30 and need a taxi, forget it. They all dissapear until midnight so that they can charge double.

Without Discrimination

Taxi drivers may be the least racist of all Greeks. If its female they will hit on her. Foreigner or local, no difference, they will cheat both without discrimination.
When tourists come here they feel pity for them "Oh my how can they survive on such a low wage". Since these are the only working greeks they meet they fail to realise that wages are low for the vast majority living here. Its a tough place to survive.
What this has done however is given taxi drivers a feeling that they are entitled to more and entitled to cheat others to supplement their low income. Regardless of the fact that they are amongst the biggest tax evaders out there (up there with doctors and lawyers). Every second or third passenger is money in the pocket as there is no evidence of them using their service. Whenever the meter is not running, that too is money in the pocket.

Know your rights

When catching a taxi you might want to know that they are legally required to indicate that their taxi is Vacant (using the Eleuthero - Vacant sign on the dash) this is almost always turned down.
When they stop they are required to take you where you want to go - You don't have to stand like a hooker on a corner soliciting taxis for an hour or a minute.
They must ask your permission if you want another person to share your taxi.
They must leave you at the destination you specified otherwise they forfeit the fare.
You are entitled to a reciept (Legally speaking i think you are legally required to ask for one)
If you suspect that they are driving you in circles you can ask to be driven to a police department.
You can also take down their details and present them to the tourist police if you believe that you have been wronged.

Another note, the income they recieve from the taxi meter is decided upon by government in association with the Taxi drivers association. What is indicated on the meter, even if its a trip from Athens to Thessaloniki has been deemed enough for the taxi driver.
If you think thats low, well welcome to Greece!

PS. I just walk or try to take the Metro, who has time dealing with these clowns