Greek Fires - Pay Now, Plan Later
ENGLISH August 31st, 2007
Last week’s destructive fires in Greece created a new type of internal refugee. The devastating fires left many Greeks without their living quarters: homes, stores, storage facilities & livestock - even small factories. The Greek Orthodox church and the Red Cross immediately reacted by providing food, shelter and hope to the many families affected by the ravaging fires.
Enter the Greek government, who under the forthcoming election pressure announced immediate monetary relief for those who will claim it - the keyword here being “claim”. These in charge of the national funds - money that belongs to all Hellenes - decided that the situation justifies an unprecedented handout, where little research is made into claims prior to giving out the coveted 3,000 euro relief payment to the claimants.
Just two days into this government-issued handout, there are serious issues already with the extreme amount of claimants who rushed to the banks to cash the free assistance ticket. Apparently, all it takes to claim the funds is any type of identification and a signed statement confirming that they have been a victim of destruction by the Greek fires.
No questions asked - all in the name of counter-bureaucracy.
There are reports that a large number of out-of-towners with accents that do not match these of the locals, foreign nationals, immigrants and Roma (”Gypsies”) have flooded the facilities allocated by the government, in order to claim the free money. The lack of any form of research into one’s claim sets a dangerous precedent to how calamities and emergencies are handled by the ruling government of that time.
Once again, it is clear that the absolute lack of a process, of a plan, of a design is going to prove itself costly to the government and the Greek population - the already heavily taxed Greek citizen who has seen their income dwindle since the early 2000’s and the introduction of the euro currency.
On September 16th, national elections in Greece will once again decide which major political party will run the government. It is imperative that no matter which party forms the government, there will be a national plan in place to deal with destructive calamities such as fires, earthquakes, floods, famine and disease that might strike Greece in the future.
Planning now will save us all a fortune later.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:56 pm
What Greek government is needed first is people able to make plans, both for risk reduction and alleviation. The planning process - and in this particular case planning for disasters - is not a simple affair. Appropriate professionals and a constant participatory process between the state and the citizens are needed in order an appropriate response for the Greek case to be given. Urban govenance, bureocratic procedures and national ideology need reconsideration. All these of course take time but the most of the times bring…change.
September 1st, 2007 at 8:45 am
Lines of people snaked outside banks for a third straight day to receive emergency aid, although officials tightened checks on the fast-track process to foil fraud.
A court in the western Peloponnese town of Amaliada sentenced three men to 3 1/2 years in prison for fraudulently claiming relief funds of $4,100. Sentencing within days of arrest is not unusual in Greece. A fourth woman was released after appealing her conviction.
At least 12 other people had been arrested for alleged relief fraud, and the Finance Ministry issued a week’s amnesty for people to return cash relief they might have “accidentally” received.
“After that, all legal penalties will apply in full for all,” a ministry statement said.
Government spokesman Thodoris Roussopoulos said 44,000 people received immediate aid worth $196 million over the past three days.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Indeed Greece is a shithole with no bottom to this abyss of government corruption and corruption in multi-national companies. Ordinary people get treated like dirt in Greece and there is no meritocracy based on skills, knowledge and aptitude or ability. The media, television and the government is ruled by rogues, criminals and people of “total nothingness”. Basically the only thing that will save Greece is a bloody revolution. What can one say when the only ambitions of Greeks are to own a Cayenne or some other overly priced gas guzzling SUV, when government, local authorities and companies are behind the destructive fires of last summer which burnt at least a third of the country - where the price of a coffee is 5 euros where people are threatened by their managers to work up to 11 at night in multinational companies with no extra pay because they too are subject to fraudulent tactics, where people do not know their basic human rights and even if they do there is no way of fighting for these, where the justice system is constantly bribed and all judges and lawyers involved in black money and shady contracts, where the minister of employment employs illegal immigrants with no social security and moreover, was hiding income and property from the IRS and he is still free rather than having being locked up in jail for 30 years, where nobody wants to get involved in anyhting of substance, where unemployment is rife among qualified personnel almost 30% (do not believe government figures - they are false) because jobe are held by people of “nothingness” earning 600 euros per month - illegal pay according to EU law - where everything sucks - where people purposefully and willingly destroy the environment for profit where if people do not take power into their own hands Greece will turn into a disaster without rebait and without return.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING THIS IS MY COUNTRY GREECE ON A VERY BAD DAWNING SPRING!!
WHY DID POLITICS AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR AT LARGE DO NOTHING TO PREVENT (NO ARRESTS MADE) THE DESTRUCTIVE FIRES OF AUGUST 2007? IS IT BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL INVOLVED - AS IS THE PUBLIC’S GENERAL OPINION IN GREECE, THAT THE FIRES WERE ACTUALLY SET ABLAZE BY POLITICIANS, THE AUTHORITIES, AND OTHER BUSINESSES ALL INTERESTED IN OF COURSE PROFIT AND BLACK PROFIT AT THAT…..
76 PEOPLE DIED!
APPROXIMATELY 3 MILLION BIRDS DIED!
APPROXIMATELY 670,000 SMALL MAMMALS AND RODENTS DIED AMONG WHICH THE ALMOST EXTINCT “jackal Canis aureus” & Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris)!!
APPROXIMATELY 2800 RED DEER DIED - THE WORLD’S RAREST DEER/STAG FAMILY MEMBER WHICH ONLY SURVIVES IN GREECE!!
WHY CAN’T HUMANS - WHICH ARE THE WORST ANIMAL AND MOST DESTRUCTIVE OF ALL THE ANIMALS - DO NOT REALISE THAT IF ANIMALS START BECOMING EXTINCT EN-MASSE, THEN HUMANS WILL EQUALLY PERISH!!
AND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE - BLOODY NOTHING!!
UNFORTUNATELY EVENTS DESCRIBED IN CORMAC McCARTHY’S POSTAPOCALYPTIC NOVEL “THE ROAD” ARE MUCH MUCH CLOSER THAN WE THINK.