Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-08-01

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK on NSRF for 2007-3013

[02] Souflias on flood prevention projects

[03] Athens sixth most popular destination for BA

[04] Fires reported as gov't pledges compensation

[01] PASOK on NSRF for 2007-3013

Commenting on the draft law, Efthymiou said, ?it is in the wrong direction and constitutes a monument of complexity, bureaucracy, a waste of funds, while it does not contribute at all in the effectiveness of the management of the developmental interventions of the 2007-2013 period.?

Efthymiou said that the relevant draft law ?was presented by the government with a great delay and apparently because it is being pressured to change the agenda and to present some form of work,? adding that ?in 2004 prices, the 4th Community Support Framework (CSF) which the government âsecuredâ, is minus 26% in comparison to the PASOKâs negotiating success with the 3rd CSF.?

A similar statement was made by PASOKâs Economy Department.

On its part, the press office of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said:

?The working people will not receive anything and should not hope to expect anything from the NSFRâs 24.6 billion euros for the 2007-2013 period. To the contrary, the sum will be used against them so as to support the much talked about Lisbon Strategy which sacrifices the rights of the working people to the alter of the competitiveness of the monopolistic groups.?

Political Secretariat member and Economy and Social Policy Department head of the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos), Panagiotis Lafazanis said:

?The draft law which the government submitted for the 4th CSF (NSFR) renders even more concentrated, clientele and bureaucratic the management of the 4th CSF, while a major part of it is privatised with its assignment to private companies, at the same time when brushed aside is almost all local administration and the democratic programming with the participation of local agencies. The danger of new funds being lost from the last for our countryâs EU package is almost certain.?

[02] Souflias on flood prevention projects

Souflias said that the Parnitha forestry department was already preparing the relevant studies and was now working on one for the Eschatia region, a project budgeted at 120 million euros that was included in the 4th Community Support Framework.

MP for Achaia Costas Spiliopoulos criticised the government, however, for failing to announce any similar action in the wake of huge fires in Egio, stressing that the danger from landslides was extremely grave. He said that the Parnitha model should also be implemented in other areas.

He also urged that farmers in the region be compensated for at least 50 percent of their losses, so that they would not have to abandon the region.

[03] Athens sixth most popular destination for BA

Roughly 3 million passengers will be served by British Airways in the month of August and more than half of them will opt for a European destination with Paris, Rome, Nice, Madrid, Barcelona and Athens being the most popular for the sunny and hot weather.

The ticket bookings for long distance trips with British Airways are recording a 20 percent rise compared to the same period last year as many Britons wish to escape the extreme weather conditions still recorded in Great Britain.

The US cities of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston are steadily the most popular overseas destinations followed by Hong Kong in Asia.

[04] Fires reported as gov't pledges compensation

A strong fire-fighting force, including three Canadair aircraft dropping water from the air, were sent to tackle the blaze.

Another fire that began at dawn on Wednesday at Platanakia near Kerkini in the prefecture of Serres was under full control, the fire department reported at around midday. Despite high wind and difficult conditions that prevented fire-fighting aircraft from approaching the fire, it did not pose a threat to any inhabited areas and burnt only two hectares of low vegetation. It was attributed to a bolt of lightning.

Also subsiding is a fire that broke out at Akoumia in the prefecture of Rethymno on Crete, which has so far claimed about 150 hectares of agricultural land and olive groves and another 350 hectares of open pasture.

Two more small fires were reported on Wednesday morning in the Cretan prefecture of Chania, one at a rubbish dump at Aghia Marina and another in the area of Vantes. Both fires were quickly placed under control.

In a statement in Athens, meanwhile, Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis gave assurances that the victims of the devastating fires that occurred in July would receive the compensation provided by law and more.

He said that the government was doing everything in its power to deal with the problem.

Regarding when this compensation would be given, he said that this would have to be preceded by an assessment of the damage.

According to Deputy Finance Minister Christos Folias, grants of 10 million euros were envisaged for restoring damages in the prefecture of Achaia.

On Crete, a midday meeting was held at the headquarters of the Chania prefecture and the head of the island's Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organisation in order to immediately begin processes to compensate fire victims at Anatoliko Selino, where a lot of agricultural units suffered damage.

The meeting also highlighted the need to immediately carry out flood protection works and said it would apply for 300,000 euros to repair damaged infrastructure, such as roads and the water supply network.

In the northern Greek city of Alexandropoulis, the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace General Secretary Mihalis Angelopoulos paid a visit to a fire brigade unit based at Alexandroupolis airport, consisting of ground forces transported to fires by air, accompanied by the regional chief of the Fire Brigade Constantine Karapatakis and the governor of the Alexandroupolis Fire Brigade Christos Roufos.

Angelopoulos praised the unit for its effective contribution to putting out major fires in the prefecture of Evros in the past week and said that he would every effort to cover the unit's needs.

The unit is responsible for the five prefectures of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace and is comprised of 17 permanent firemen and 72 seasonal firemen. They are currently also being assisted by a KAMOV fire-fighting helicopter sent by Russia, manned by a 12-member crew and technical personnel.

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