The Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection has this week been sending a strong message on the clearance of building plots, the deadline for which has been extended to 22nd June, with no further extensions envisaged. The Minister, Evangelos Tournas, has been sounding the alarm over uncleared plots which are sources of inflammable materials and can contribute to the spread of fires.
According to reports on ERTNews this week, so far only 1 in 4 property owners have cleared their plots and submitted declarations to the Ministry website at: https://akatharista.apps.gov.gr. This year in particular, scientists are predicting record high temperatures and increased periods of drought. Also the abundant winter rains have caused a proliferation of vegetation, thus increasing the need for clearance.
At a meeting at the Ministry with local government officials from the Attica Region this week, Mr Tournas said: “This deadline expires on 22nd June. From next Tuesday inspections will start and, unfortunately, fines will be imposed, because we cannot grant any further extensions. The climate crisis won’t wait. It’s not giving us another extension. Therefore we must all conform by Monday, we must finish our tasks so as to improve resilience and reduce the risk of fire.”
According to figures from the Civil Protection Service, 108 drones are now in operation, monitoring the whole country for possible fires, of which 33 are in Attica. Again this year, firefighting aircraft are expected to play a decisive role, with over 40 ready for operation.
Every year the Fire Service has to deal with more than 6,400 forest fires nationally. This year, from the beginning of the anti-fire period on 1st May they have already tackled 803 forest fires. Of these 803 fires, 435 cases of arson* have been investigated by 37 teams of the directorate for countering crimes of arson throughout the country. The Ministry emphasises the importance of personal responsibility for citizens in avoiding fires and fostering an anti-fire culture.
(ERTNews/YouTube)
*It should be noted that the Greek term “emprismos”, which translates as “arson”, is interpreted to cover all cases of fire caused by human activity, and therefore includes fires caused by negligence or ignoring the anti-fire rules. Recent cases for which fines have been imposed have included fires started by the use of cutting tools which create sparks, as well as farmers burning prunings and the products of vegetation clearance after the 1st May.