D. Koutsoumbas on fires: The government should immediately take all the necessary measures in order to avoid the worst

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, at the beginning of his speech, at this evening’s meeting of the Attica Party Organization with trade unionists, emphasized that the popular needs also include the issues of civil protection, protection of human life and the environment, whose criticality it emerged once again with the great fire in Eastern Attica, but also now in Megara.

“We express our undivided support to the residents of Eastern Attica, Pallini, Pikermio, Gerakas, Penteli, Megara, all the areas affected by the fire.

We express our support to the fire department staff, to all the volunteers who operate in very difficult conditions and with few means in their hands, without basic infrastructure.

We salute the members and friends of the Party, who from the first moment contribute and continue to the work of firefighting, offering their solidarity and support to those who need it,” he said.

“The people of the region have every reason to feel anger and indignation, seeing that human lives are at risk, that a lifetime’s work is lost, that the natural environment is destroyed.

Every year the same story. For another year, we are living the refutation of the government’s assurances about the “full readiness and adequacy of the state apparatus”!

We live the consequences of this “sufficiency”. An ongoing crime with the responsibility of all past governments! And ND and SYRIZA and PASOK!

We are living the consequences of the non-existence of a comprehensive fire protection plan in the context of forest management, which should have focused on Prevention!

This is also the main cause of the fire in Penteli, combined with the commercialization of land that functions as a combustible material, since it has led to mixed residential and forest zones” said D. Koutsoubas and then underlined:

“We demand that the government immediately take all the necessary measures. That is, all that it should have already taken and didn’t do, in order to avoid the worst, as the fire fighting season is still ahead, and we don’t know what dawns upon us.

Needed here and now:

–To ensure the necessary infrastructure and fire-fighting means and others, with extraordinary funding from the state budget

–To ensure, as an urgent measure, the housing, hospitality, support and provision of the immediate needs of the residents of the fire-affected areas

–There should be an immediate recording of the damages, the restoration and full compensation of all those affected

We will be with them in this fight and in coordination with all those affected by other devastating fires throughout Greece who are still waiting…”.

SOURCE: AMPE