Firefighters Gain Upper Hand Over Greek Fires
Date: 30-Aug-07
Country: GREECE
Author: Dina Kyriakidou
While survivors queued for cash handouts, thousands of
people rallied in Athens to protest at what they see as a feeble
government response to the crisis, increasing pressure on Prime
Minister Costas Karamanlis who faces re-election next month.
"(I'm angry at) the lives that were lost, the people that
were devastated, but most of all at how the state handled the
situation -- lazily and badly organised," said Maria
Kyritsopoulou, 38, who attended the rally with her two small
children.
"This will surely affect the elections, I hope it will."
More than 8,000 people, most wearing black as a sign of
mourning, were estimated to have taken part in the 'silent'
protest outside parliament organised by word of mouth and
through blogs rather than by any political party.
Both Greece's main parties have lost popularity since the
fires started, and polls show the New Democracy party has a
slight lead over the Socialist opposition PASOK ahead of the snap
Sept. 16. elections that Karamanlis called before the fires.
The government told Reuters it estimated the fire damage at
at least 0.6 percent of GDP, or 1.2 billion euros (US$1.6 billion)
and said it would apply for European Union emergency aid.
VILLAGES EVACUATED
At nightfall, five villages on the southerly Peloponnese
peninsula were still being evacuated, in areas where the flames
continued to burn the once verdant pine forests and olive groves
that hot summer winds have turned tinder-dry.
Firefighters said they were largely on top of things. "The
biggest fronts are either receding or under partial control,"
fire brigade spokesman Nikos Diamandis told foreign journalists.
"We are concerned because a new heatwave is coming,
according to the weather service, peaking on Saturday and
Sunday," he added.
Thousands of people rushed to banks to claim an initial
3,000 euros in government compensation. Greek TV showed one bank
sending angry claimants away after running out of cash.
As the flames died down, the devastation of the environment
and economy of the fertile peninsula was painfully clear.
Among the burned trees on the mountainside near the village
of Minthi, around 70 charred goat carcasses lay putrefying in
the sun, the stench of rotting flesh drifting in the wind. The
body of the farmer who died with his animals had been removed.
"Everything we had has gone. We had oil, we lived off the
olives. It's all gone," said Athanassia Kazakopoulou, 77, from
the village of Frixa.
Greeks are angry about the fires which many believe were
started deliberately, and horrified by broadcasts of frantic
phone calls from villagers surrounded by flames, pleading for
help from the overburdened fire service.
But with polls showing a fall in support for both main
parties, it looked as if Greeks were becoming increasingly
disillusioned with all mainstream politicians, an opinion
expressed by one 73-year-old in a hamlet left to fend for itself
as the flames drew near.
"The only thing some people are good at is being on the
take," Theodoros Panagiotopoulos told Reuters in Frixa. "But we
are alive, thank God."
(Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann and Michele Kambas in
the Peloponnese)
