In a nutshell, the backlash involves a 50-year lease of the best beaches of Elafonissos island, Simos and Sarakinos, which locals stress are protected under the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected areas, as is the entire island, which is noted for its unique plant life.
The state-owned beach side properties to be exploited covers an area of nine hectares, and they are just two of the 13 beaches that the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (Taiped) reportedly seeks to privatise.
Though confirming that the fund owns the property, Taiped actually issued a statement earlier this week claiming that it has not yet incorporated it in any specific development program, and when it is, there will be an official open dialogue, with normally includes input from private citizens, as well as civic, and environmental groups.
(Same old dust in the eyes trick... and then back to business as usual)
Beachside properties currently advertised on the Taiped website include Agia Triada near Thessaloniki, Asprovalta in Halkidiki, and the beach of Thermisia in Ermioni (Peloponnese). Another beach side property that Taiped had put on the bloc in 2013 is Agios Ioannis in Sithonia, Chalkidiki, which has an area of 200,000 square metres and boasts a 2km beach line.
Taiped basically asserts that its plans for privatisation of these properties provide for an "especially mild and ecological development". And we ask, how can loud music, beach front bars, and mega hotels provide ecological development?
Why can't our leaders just admit the truth?
Let us be more specific. Based on a medium-term bailout deal passed by parliament in 2011 (yes under the George Papandreou government), the real estate privatisation scheme provides that such 50-year leases are going to provide investors with exclusive use of the beaches and seashores.
And so we ask again... (as concerned citizens), is this ecological development? Sounds like corporate development... and it is a disgusting thought.
HellasFrappe has supported the government on many fronts, especially on many much needed reforms. But it will not support the government on a project that clearly aims to fatten the pockets of some greedy politicians and investors who couldn't give a sh***t about the areas pristine and natural beauty.
And just in case we get criticized once again for lashing out at the PASOK-Papandreou government (for basically signing over all of Greece to his friends at the IMF) it would be wise for all of you to know that the Papandreou government opted for the solution of long-term land leases in early 2011, in an attempt to avoid future legal challenges to real estate privatisation. Many Leftist organizations and wannabes should think about that before lashing out at the government for moving ahead with something that is clearly out of its control.
Nonetheless, the government can find a clause in this controversy and obstruct this from ever happening.
In an ongoing civil society campaign on the Avaaz website, over 131,000 citizens have signed a petition demanding that the European Parliament address the issue of the use of and free access to beaches.
"It sounds outlandish but this summer may be the last one that we can freely enjoy access to Greek beaches," the petition warns.Taiped, which is clearly following the Memorandums signed by George Papandreou's government, hopes to collect 500 million Euros in revenues from real estate leasing and development by the end of 2014.
Friends, anyone who has ever visited the area of Elafonissos for example is marvelled by this small island. Located off Cape Malea in the southern Peloponnese, it is a main attraction for nature lovers and tourists in the summer. Its white sand beaches of Simos and Sarakinikos (the only two on the island) which stretch around a bend in the coastline and are connected by a thin strip of sand to a tiny, sandy almost-island, forming between them natural turquoise lagoons. The beaches form part of a wider ecosystem of extensive sand dunes which are increasingly rare in the Mediterranean. Once a well-kept secret, they have recently been featured in publications including the Guardian newspaper.
A separate article analyzing this controversy on PressProject says that now these areas may grow even rarer, since it has been transferred to the HRADF with a view to offering a 50-year lease on the property to private investors.
Certainly, the revelation of such a development provokes an immediate outcry. And this is because not only is the area of obvious, outstanding natural beauty, it is also included in the European NATURA network of protected areas. In fact, notes the same article, coastal sand dunes such as those in Elafonissos are particularly important for biodiversity, being refuges for plants and animals.
"They are also increasingly being lost due to human activity. Numerous species of birds, small mammals and reptiles breed in the area, and the dunes form habitats for endangered plant species such as the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum). Currently the only development in the area is a small camping ground (itself the subject of numerous legal challenges), but which is sited away from the dunes."The same article further reveals that the HRADF is now attempting to defuse the situation. In such a framework, it released a press release claiming that there have been no moves to develop the area, but, notes the same article, that conclusion is contradicted by the Fund’s own admission that the area has indeed been transferred to its portfolio.
According to recent Memorandum laws, all properties transferred to the HRADF must be privatized and cannot be transferred back to the state. So effectively, concludes the author of the same article, it is only a matter of time before such plans are established. (Makes perfect sense)
The Fund also apparently states that any future development plans would be particularly gentle and proceed with respect to the natural ecosystems.
Once again, says the author, the Fund is contradicting itself as is clear from the HRADF’s own description of the property.
"The Fund’s own ‘Proposed Development Concept’ is for a hotel and vacation homes to be built on the property, and it is clear from the accompanying slides that the buildings would be sited directly on top of the sand dunes."Therefore even if one takes at face value the Fund’s assertion that any development would occur following proper environmental assessments and public consultation, it is still difficult to see how even with modifications to the initial recommendations (which are portrayed to investors as feasible) any development could go ahead which would not cause irreversible damage to one of the most unique coastal areas in the entire country.
(Sources, ProtoThema, PressProject)
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