Prime Minister presents recovery plan for fire-ravaged areas

[Ellinas]

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday presented a plan for the recovery of the fire-ravaged areas of Greece, saying this would focus on seven lines of action with priority given to meeting the emergency needs of the fire victims.

Describing the past eight days as "a fiery nightmare" and "days of battle", Karamanlis said it was now "time to think of the following day".

Though the battle against the flames was not yet completely over, the prime minister said that the situation had improved and that the wildfire fronts had been contained. At the same time, he added, coordinated and efficient actions had already begun to "heal the wounds" the disaster left in its wake, at least those that were immediate and pressing.

Karamanlis stressed that the need to deal with broader issues, "as a state and as a nation".

"It is our duty to ensure a new prospect of strong and environmentally friendly development for all the fire-stricken regions," he added.

The government's plan met two goals: meeting the immediate humanitarian and financial needs of the victims quickly and efficiently and, secondly, the fastest possible recovery from the damage inflicted to the financial, social and natural environment.

"The basic concern of all the government's efforts is to strengthen social cohesion. It is an effort with a specific work plan, system and organisation to help the people that lost a part of their lives to find it again, it is not just one more project undertaken by the state. It is first and foremost an obligation, a duty of the state. It is our commitment," he stressed.

Listing the seven directing lines of action for the state, he said the first to house, compensate and restore the income of the victims. The housing element would be covered by a fast-moving programme for constructing homes and other buildings, the premier said.

A second line of action would be to restore the natural environment, with comprehensive environmental studies and special studies of the NATURA areas, after which their recommendations would be carried out. He said that this would mean encouraging natural recovery of forests in some areas but reforestation in others.

A third concern was culture, centering on Ancient Olympia, with work already underway at the culture ministry to arrange the cleaning and conservation of the antiquities, due to be completed by December. According to Karamanlis, work to restore the surrounding scenery will also be carried out, so that the site visited by thousands of tourists each year would present an appropriate image, and to protect against flooding. He also announced plans for the construction of a modern Olympic sports facility in the area.

The fourth line of work will be to review spatial planning and sustainable development policies of the Peloponnese, west and central Greece regional authorities for these areas.

There will also be a study on an infrastructure network for the fast and sustainable development of the region, actions to boost business enterprise based on strong incentives and finally action to support the tourism sector and the country's heavy industry.

ANA