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The weather - 19 March, 2010
Fair weather is forecast across the country, with patches of cloud in the Ionian and on the mainland. Winds will be variable at light to moderate speeds across the country, while the southern Aegean can expect north-northwesterlies at 3 to 5 Beaufort. Temperatures are expected to range from a low of -2C (28F) to a high of 17C (63F) in the north, from 0C (32F) to 20C (68F) on the mainland and from 6C (43F) to 19C (66F) on the islands.
OUTLOOK: Sunny skies and climbing temperatures are expected over the next couple of days across the country as spring makes its presense felt, though patches of cloud will develop later on in the afternoons, especially in western parts of Greece. Winds will be variable, at light to moderate speeds of 3 to 4 Beaufort, while temperatures are expected to rise further in most parts of the country toward the end of the week.
From: Kathimerini
IN ONE MONTH
Express ferry line Souda - Piraeus
Competition returns on the ferry line Souda - Piraeus after the decision of the company Blue Star Ferries to launch a fast ferry from next April. This development is expected to reinvigorate domestic tourism - especially the weekend - which had declined substantially following the departure of the company from the line before 2 years, while prices are expected to fall to the benefit of consumers. The board of Blue Star Ferries will launch routes Souda - Piraeus / Piraeus - Souda Bay on April 23 and the trip will last approximately 6 hours. The departure from Piraeus to Chania will be at 2.45 noon and from Chania to Piraeus, the ship sails at 11 pm. To make even that - according to information - the company is to receive from Japan two new ships this June and Blue Star Ferries may launch even faster boats on the line.
Translated from: Haniotika Nea
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Taxis, gas station owners join action - 18 March, 2010
There will be no taxis serving the capital today and gas stations will be closed in the latest spate of strike action in protest at the government’s austerity measures.
Taxi drivers object to plans to make them issue receipts, keep account books and pay tax according to their income, despite the government’s decision to postpone until 2011 the implementation of these measures, originally planned to take effect immediately. Cabbies staged two 24-hour strikes last month and have pledged to continue their action until the government satisfies their demands.
Gas station owners, also on strike today, are protesting plans obliging them to install cash registers and also object to increases in fuel tax. Some petrol station owners claim that the fuel hikes have prompted countless Greek motorists to cross the border into Bulgaria to fill up on cheaper fuel. The gas station owners have also threatened rolling strikes.
Continuing action by employees of the Public Power Corporation caused brief electricity shortages in parts of Attica and elsewhere yesterday. The PPC employees are protesting a freeze on scheduled hirings as well as bonus and holiday pay reductions.
Ongoing work stoppages by doctors yesterday led to an increasing number of state hospitals operating on emergency staff. Unionists said they were planning to scale up their action after Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou failed to satisfy their demands for immediate disbursement of outstanding pay for additional duty hours worked by doctors.
Tomorrow there will be no news or live programs on any radio stations as technicians stage their own strike over planned changes to their collective work contract.
Medicines bill to be slashed
There will be a clampdown on the state-funded medicines available to Greeks through the social insurance system, the government said yesterday, as it wants to slash by some 30 percent the 5.1 billion euros that were spent on drugs last year.
PASOK intends to reintroduce a list of approved medicines, scrapped by the previous New Democracy government, to try to rein in state spending. For a medicine to be entered on the list, the pharmaceutical company will have to agree to pay a 3 percent rebate on what it earns each year and the drug will have to be included on a list in another European country.
The measures were proposed at a public health conference by PASOK MP Elias Mossialos, who is also a health policy professor at the London School of Economics. He said that in 2009, Greece spend a total of 9.2 billion euros on drugs and related items whereas Spain, which has a population almost five times as big, spent 12 billion euros.
From: Kathimerini
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Farming shortfalls 17 March, 2010
EC seeks return of 132.3 mln euros in agricultural subsidies
The European Commission has asked Greece to return 132.3 million euros in farming subsidies after detecting shortfalls in quality inspections and growth programs in the agriculture sector, it emerged yesterday. The decision, which comes at the worst possible time for the debt-ridden government, was issued after EC officials reported inadequate inspections on cotton farming and a lack of initiatives to spur growth in the broader sector.
Taxi strike
No cabs on streets tomorrow
There will be no taxis serving the capital and other major Greek cities tomorrow as cabbies stage a 24-hour strike. Taxi drivers object to government plans to make them issue receipts, keep account books and pay tax according to their income. The cabbies are protesting despite the government's decision to postpone the implementation of these measures, originally planned to take effect immediately, until 2011. Under the current system, drivers pay just over 1,200 euros in tax each year, regardless of what they earn. Cabbies staged two 24-hour strikes last month and have pledged to continue their action until the government satisfies their demands.
From: Kathimerini
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Arms imports - 16 March, 2010
Greece ranks 5th, report says
Greece ranks fifth in the world in terms of the volume of its arms imports, according to a report made public yesterday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a think tank. China and India top the list of arms imports, according to the report, which notes that the US and Russia were responsible for more than half of all weapons’ exports in the period between 2005 and 2009. During the same period, global weapons sales increased by 22 percent. Greece spends an estimated 4 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
From: Kathimerini
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VAT hike - 15 March, 2010
Public to get first taste of new austerity measures
The increase in value-added tax from 19 to 21 percent, one of a series of new austerity measures approved in Parliament last week, is to come into effect today, bumping up the price of food, fuel, utility bills and various services. The price of toll fees on the national road network increased at midnight yesterday. At the Afidnes junction in northern Attica, the new toll fee for motorists will be 1.90 euros, at Thebes 2.30 euros and at Tragana 2.20 euros. Toll fees on the Attiki Odos ring roadwill not change.
Power cuts?
A 48-hour strike by employees at the Public Power Corporation, due to begin tomorrow morning, is likely to result in electricity shortages in many parts of the country. The workers, who are to meet at the end of the scheduled strike late on Wednesday to plan further action, object to austerity measures that trim their bonuses and holiday pay and have accused the government of «unfair, disastrous and absurd policies.»
OA law to cost 1.3 billion euros
It will cost the cash-strapped government some 1.3 billion euros to make good on settlements to thousands of laid-off employees of the former state-carrier Olympic Air, in accordance with a law introduced by the previous conservative administration, Kathimerini has learned.
The sum accounts for about a quarter of the 5 billion euros the government aims to raise with the raft of austerity measures it voted through Parliament last week.
The law, which foresees early retirement for hundreds of former OA employees, is expected to cost insurance funds alone some 650 million euros, according to the General Accounting Office, which calculates and dispenses civil servants' pensions. The office has been under occupation for nearly two weeks by former airline staff who are demanding that the government make good on the provisions of its predecessor's law.
The ex-OA employees launched their action early last month, when government officials indicated that the legislation was considered invalid, as it listed employees who should not have been included.
The controversial law foresees, among other things, the granting of full pensions to all former OA flight attendants and ground staff on the condition of their having completed at least 7,500 days of insured work, irrespective of their age. This means that hundreds will retire with full pensions aged as young as 48. Another provision that would prove costly to the state allows former OA staff who have been transferred to other positions in the civil service to keep receiving the same wage they had when working at the carrier.
From: Kathimerini
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Firms promise to bear cost of VAT hike - 13 March, 2010
One after the other, local companies are announcing that they will not pass on to consumers the increase in value-added tax effective as of Monday, March 15. The latest company was listed food retailer Grigoris, following similar announcements from MEGA personal hygiene products, food company Chiquita Hellas and supermarket chains Lidl, Aldi and Carrefour. Last Monday the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE) had asked its members to take this step in order to lighten the burden on consumers, with traders expecting turnover this year to drop by 8.3 billion euros due to the decrease in income of the middle and lower classes.
From: Kathimerini
IN AREAS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CHANIA
Pollution problem
A major problem of pollution is identified locally on the pipeline carrying the water in the sea area of Paleochora and in ports in the region. However, due to natural diffusion of water, the problem seems to disappear a few steps farther, and especially in areas Thick Sand and Gravel. These are research data presented yesterday in the pre-conference event on "Protection of Coastal Areas" held Annex West Crete of the Technical Chamber of Greece, Professor of TEI Crete George Stavroulakis.
Specifically, Mr. Stavroulakis presented the findings of a survey which was submitted to the Ministry of Rural Development under the operational program "Fisheries" - and was implemented in the period 2007-2008 in order to determine the level of pollution - marine pollution in the bay area Paleohora. [...]
Mr. Pitaridakis stressed that coastal areas subjected to continuous pressure, such as the degradation of coastal resources, the depletion of water resources, accelerating erosion and accumulation of pollution.
"These pressures - as noted - include:
- In development projects lack sustainability parameters and can be a threat to the coastal environment, colonization of open spaces for recreation and tourism.
- Projects carried out without sufficient knowledge of the dynamics of the coastal system and cause erosion of the coast.
- The abstraction of natural resources and degradation of natural habitats that reduce biodiversity on the coast and the sea.
- And the pollution from various sources or from ships or industries.
Mr. Pitaridakis stressed that even though our country has signed and ratified in 2008 the "Protocol Integrated Coastal Zone Management" of the Barcelona Convention so far there has been no attempt to set specific objectives and commitment and measures to be implemented in timetables to improve the situation: "We therefore urge the state to integrate and refine all the above in the planning frameworks and specific framework for coastal and island area pending, as TBT will assist in every way to that."
Translated from: Haniotika Nea
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Strike to paralyze services again - 10 March, 2010
A general strike tomorrow by workers protesting the government’s new austerity measures is expected to ground planes and seriously disrupt public services and transport in the capital.
The 24-hour strike, the latest in a series of protests called by the civil servants’ union, ADEDY, and the country’s umbrella labor union, GSEE, has been organized as a reaction to tax increases and reductions in holiday pay in the public sector that were voted through Parliament last Friday. As on February 10 and 24 when similar strikes were staged, services will be scant and the capital will be inaccessible for much of the day as three protest rallies are planned.
Public transport will be crippled with no services on the metro, buses, trolley buses, tram, railway and suburban railway. Only the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) will be operating between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
All flights, incoming and outgoing, will be postponed as air-traffic controllers walk off the job. Ferries will remain moored at ports across the country as seamen join the action.
Schools and tax offices will close and hospitals will operate with emergency staff. Courts will also be closed as lawyers and clerks stay at home. Meanwhile the piles of trash on the streets are expected to grow as landfill staff continue their protest action. [...]
From: Kathimerini
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A yellow smog of desert dust engulfs the capital - 9 March, 2010
The normally spectacular view of the Acropolis from Mount Lycabettus was yesterday distinctly muted after a yellow-tinted smog engulfed the capital. Meteorologists blamed the smog on Sahara Desert dust that has been blowing in the direction of the eastern Mediterranean over the past few weeks and which was the cause of muddy rain which fell across the capital late on Sunday, leaving a residue on cars and window panes.
 ‘Kalimera’ is country’s new tourism motto
The Greek word for ‘good morning’ is the new motto of the Greek National Tourism Organization’s campaign, unveiled yesterday by Deputy Minister for Tourism Angela Gerekou.
The 2010 campaign will be based on the template of previous years, somewhat refreshed, along with the addition of the well-known greeting in the country’s language. Gerekou admitted that this solution was chosen in order to cut costs. She added that promotion of Greek tourism will increase on the Internet and noted the renewed website for Greek tourism on www.visitgreece.gr. ‘Greece’s presence on websites has multiplied from previous years,’ Gerekou said, suggesting that funds for the country’s promotion this year exceed 12 million euros.
From: Kathimerini
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TAX STRIKE - 8 March, 2010
Officials off the job for two days
Tax officials are staging a 48-hour strike starting today in protest at the cuts to their salaries that the government is imposing as part of its efforts to reduce public spending. They will also be demanding the hiring of more personnel. Judicial officials are also staging a three-hour work stoppage today.
From: Kathimerini
Chania Hospital
Shortcomings without end
The "critical" condition of the Hospital of Chania, and the non-filling of vacant posts in recent years has compound the problems of operation of the institution. The gaps reach 40% in hospital and 35% of medical staff on permanent positions. Patients have to go to private centers for dialysis. Infants are admitted to Heraklion. The Infant Unit that was opened after years of efforts is likely to close. Other units have not yet opened. Lives are at risk every day. The staff made heroic efforts to help patients. The state, however, seems indifferent. At the same time the contracts of employees on stage and contract covering positions in laboratories, administration and nursing, are ended, adding even more problems.
WORST ...
The chairman of NHS doctors' Chania, Nike Bardatsou, is clear: "The situation is worse this year than last year-last year was worse than the year before-in the sense that the problems persist. There has been no significant funding over the issue of health both in the medical staff and equipment so that needs to grow, the infrastructure is not sufficient because of the current number of staff that leave due to retirement or other reasons, the gap and liveware and infrastructure growth. The lack of permanent positions and in particular the nursing staff should be around 40%, the medical staff of around 30% - 35%. And while there are vacant permanent positions and standing people, places covered so far and plans for the Stage Management - Technical - nurses and the medical staff is the function of a subsidiary. This is the doctor who has one year term insurance without the same rights as permanent doctors, while meeting established positions. And while we see that their posts are vacant, there is interest in clinical staffing with permanent staff.
THE BOARDS
In particular, the situation in some parts of the hospital according to Mrs Bardatsou:
- Department of Blood: not forced to do all the shifts because there is no staff, no medical or nursing.
- Artificial Kidney Unit: Patients are sent to private centers for artificial kidney dialysis because not enough staff for all shifts - patients covered by the fund but we know what it means bleeding of funds m this way.
- Urology:
It has only two doctors.
- Clinical Hematology: It also seriously flawed.
- Anesthesia: There is a problem in the sense that it is absolutely necessary to open a pain clinic - if there were more anesthetists will be composed and therefore many patients, such as cancer, it would have to go to Heraklion. It also could be developed in the Department of Painless Childbirth. Now, we consider it unacceptable, a woman who gives birth can not help as there is adequate staff.
- Cardiology: There is a need to develop the hemodynamic section, there are doctors to do the angiography, which was saved lives.
- Intensive Care Unit: "Important understaffed; latter has somewhat improved the situation, but the beds did not arrive at the plant.
- Infant Unit: In this department is ready to renounce the director, and other staff, because they can not operate under the present circumstances the call to fifteen months. The staff is not sufficient to cover the whole month of call. But the workers themselves are exhausted and have to send daily newborns to Heraklion. [...]
Translated from: Haniotika Nea
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Greeks detect more equality - 6 March, 2010
More than any other Europeans, Greeks believe that there has been real progress over the last decade in fighting inequality between men and women but they also encounter sexual stereotypes more often than the average European, according to a survey made public yesterday.
The opinion poll carried out by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical arm, indicated that nine in 10 Greeks believe great strides have been made over the last 10 years to ensure that women are on an equal footing with men. This compares to an average of six in 10 across the EU.
However, 67 percent of Greeks say they come across sexual stereotyping in their workplace regularly, while the EU average stands at 54 percent.
Greeks are also above the European average (56 percent compared to 41 percent) when it comes to believing that there needs to be better state care for children and the elderly, so women can spend less time looking after them.
From: Kathimerini
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Crisis as midwife - 5 March, 2010
The crisis in Greece reflects the collapse of an entire economic growth model, one characterized by waste, illegality, a lack of accountability and a mentality that pervades all of society. Nevertheless, the Greek saying that “a fish begins to stink from the head” in no way absolves society. Longstanding relations of clientelism between the state and citizens have created a climate of guilty tolerance on both sides. The political system buys the people’s tolerance of its incompetence and sins by in turn putting up with widespread corruption among public servants, tax evasion and other forms of illegality.
It is a system that has corroded values and killed the country’s growth potential. In order to demand respect for its laws, a political system must first be credible itself, and the fact that crimes are not only tolerated but sometimes even encouraged, has led to an avoidance of social responsibility that negates the rule of law and undermines any chance of overcoming the crisis.
This does not mean that everyone is to blame. There are those who have not participated in this free-for-all, some as a matter of principle, most because of a lack of opportunity. But even those who have taken part do not bear the same responsiblity as those in power.
In other countries that have found themselves in a similar position, ruling political elites have been brought down. Even in Turkey, three of the four main parties found themselves outside Parliament in the economic crisis of 2002. At this point, Greece not only needs another economic policy but also new political tools, another way of being governed.
The crisis could and should function as a midwife for a new, healthier, more productive model of growth and development, but that won’t happen on its own. Yet the political system that led the country to the brink has neither the morals nor the political credibility to act. It is the corrupt ruling class that has embezzled the lion’s share of the fortune now being presented as a gigantic public debt.
From: Kathimerini
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Coastal shipping fares set to increase after VAT hike - 4 March, 2010
Coastal shipping fares are certain to rise for passengers, vehicles and goods after the emergency measures announced by the government yesterday.
The rise in value-added tax from 9 to 10 percent and from 19 to 21 percent will have a direct impact on fares, translating into an immediate 1 to 2 percent hike in passenger tickets and a 2 percent rise in rates for goods and vehicles.
It will also mean a rise in the cost of services provided on board ships, which includes the cost of products on sale and consumed in bars and restaurants on vessels.
Coastal shipping companies have also decided to temporarily stop some of their itineraries, such as some services linking Piraeus with Iraklio in Crete, given that they will be facing higher charges, including the rise in the cost of fuel by some 60 percent from last year.
From: Kathimerini
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Living on borrowed time - 3 March, 2010
PM says austerity measures to be unveiled today are urgent, calls for support
As the government prepares to announce a new raft of austerity measures today in order to curb its bloated budget deficit and reassure global markets, Prime Minister George Papandreou issued his most dramatic appeal yet for understanding from politicians and citizens alike for the extreme action necessary to get the Greek economy back on its feet.
“We are in a race against time to keep our economy alive,” Papandreou told a briefing of his Socialist party’s parliamentary group late yesterday. “If we don’t ensure that we can borrow at the same rates [as other EU member states], the consequences will be beyond catastrophic,” he said.
The new measures, which come on top of the wage freezes and tax increases heralded in the government’s original crisis plan, are to be announced after today’s Cabinet meeting. They could include a 2 percent increase in value-added tax, which now stands at 19 percent, a further hike in fuel tax and a new tax on luxury goods. Also on the cards is the abolition or reduction of the so-called 14th salary – one of two additional wages given to public sector workers.
Government officials yesterday avoided commenting on the fate of the 14th salary – a full wage paid at Christmas time and with great symbolic value – but speculation raged in the media about its abolition. It was cited as the main pretext for a new 24-hour strike called for March 16 by the civil servants’ union, ADEDY. Papandreou played down its significance in a speech before PASOK’s parliamentary group. “If we behave irresponsibly, we face the risk of being unable to pay not only the 14th salary but the 6th salary and pensions, too,” the premier said. “This might sound like a nightmare scenario but it’s true,” he added.
Earlier yesterday, Government Spokesman Giorgos Petalotis said it was “common knowledge” that the average Greek recognizes the critical nature of the current situation and is prepared to make sacrifices, on two conditions: “Firstly, that those who have always avoided paying pay this time, and secondly that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Survey finds graft is thriving
Corruption is thriving in Greece’s public and private sectors, with staff at hospitals, tax offices and town-planning offices among the worst offenders, Transparency International’s Greek office said yesterday.
Bribes paid to Greek officials last year rose by 50 million euros to 790 million euros, the corruption watchdog said, noting that the bulk of the increase was due to illicit transactions in the private sector.
In the state sector, the usual suspects topped the chart. According to a survey of 6,122 people carried out for TI’s Greek office by polling firm Public Issue, hospitals accounted for 33.5 percent of bribes taken, with tax offices and local authority services accounting for 15.7 and 15.9 percent, respectively. Banks and lawyers are next on the list with 10.8 percent and 9 percent of cases.
In the state sector, the average bribe was 1,355 euros and in the private sector 1,671 euros, according to the survey.
The head of TI’s Athens office, Costas Bakouris, said the report also showed that the overwhelming majority (98 percent) of Greeks believed the implementation of existing laws is the best way to crack down on graft. A similarly large majority (96 percent) wants to see bribe-takers punished. According to Bakouris, the problem is not the lack of legal provisions for curbing corruption but the nonimplementation of existing ones. “The problem is lax and sometimes selective implementation,” he said.
Bakouris and Public Issue Director Yiannis Mavris both said that Greece’s financial crisis is closely linked to graft. “It is a problem with very deep roots,” Mavris said.
Last November, Greece was ranked at the bottom of a list of the 27 member states of the European Union on TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2008. The index awarded Greece a score of 3.8, where 10 is highly clean and 0 is highly corrupt. The rating was equal to that of Bulgaria and Romania, and below non-EU countries such as Botswana and Tunisia.
From: Kathimerini
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School blackboards facing expulsion - 2 March, 2010
Old-fashioned blackboards will soon be a thing of the past at Greek schools, according to measures due to be announced today by the government aimed at improving the teaching environment for the country’s youngsters.
Sources said that one of the proposals that will be announced by Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou will be the introduction of interactive whiteboards (wall-mounted displays which connect to a computer or projector) in schools.
The practice of classes focusing on a single textbook will also change as Diamantopoulou wants children to be encouraged to use other sources, such as the Internet. Pupils will additionally receive more intensive schooling in information technology and foreign languages. There will also be an emphasis on youngsters being encouraged to develop critical thinking as opposed to rote learning.
From: Kathimerini
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The weather - 1 March, 2010
Generally unseasonably warm and sunny conditions are forecast tomorrow across the country, with some scattered clouds which are expected to be thicker in the north. The mainland is likely to see morning fog. Winds will be southwesterly, at light to moderate speeds of 3 to 5 Beaufort, with temperatures ranging from a low of 3C (37F) to a high of 20C (68F) in the north and from 5C (41F) to 23C (73F) elsewhere.
OUTLOOK: There is a possibility of localized showers over the next few days in the north and by nightfall in northern Thessaly with clouds elsewhere across the country. Winds will be northwesterly at 3 to 4 Beaufort, reaching 5 to 6 Beaufort in the west and north, along with a slight drop in temperatures. Wednesday will see short periods of rain in the west, central Greece and in the north, with northerly winds, 3 to 5 Beaufort, reaching 6 to 7 Beaufort in the south before easing. Temperatures will also drop across the country.
From: Kathimerini
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Youths mark Cretan teacher with swastikas - 27 February, 2010
Police on Crete yesterday were seeking the two men who carved swastika symbols on the arm of a 27-year-old teacher on Wednesday night – the latest in a string of racist crimes on the island in the past two months.
The woman was attacked while getting into her car in the Halepa suburb of Hania by two masked youths who used a razor blade to carve two Nazi symbols onto the skin of her left arm and another three on her jacket sleeve. Police said they believe the perpetrators had targeted her as she had been offering Greek language lessons to the children of immigrants. Nikos Tzaras, a spokesman for the Cretan Migrant Forum condemned the attack as “barbaric and cowardly” and said he believed the assault and other racist attacks were being coordinated by “a center in Hania.” Wednesday’s attack follows a string of assaults on migrants and two attacks on a synagogue in Hania last month.
TAXI STRIKE
Cabbies appear set for a 48-hour stoppage next week
Taxi drivers are expected to go on strike again next week but this time they will stage a 48-hour stoppage on Tuesday and Wednesday, it emerged yesterday. Their union is opposed to government plans to make cabbies issue receipts, keep account books and pay tax according to their income. Under the current system, drivers pay just over 1,200 euros in tax each year, regardless of what they earn. Cabbies have already staged two 24-hour strikes this month and say they will keep protesting until the government changes its mind.
From: Kathimerini
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