Environment and Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis, his alternate Sokratis Famellos and Interior Minister Panos Skourletis heralded a government plan to initiate the demolition of properties that have been illegally built on forestland and coastal areas.
This decision comes as a response to the backlash the national and local government received following the destructive Mati fires.
“The demolition will be a matter of days or weeks,” Mr Stathakis said announcing that the government will have a list of the 100 first properties to be demolished by early next week.
The plan will include knocking down close to 2,500 reportedly illegal buildings on forestland and another 700 on the coastline.
“In all these cases, the properties have been declared illegal by Greek courts. However, the owners have the right to appeal to the Council of State against the move within 15 days of receiving notices regarding the impending demolition,” he noted in a joint press conference.
Mr Famelos added that municipal authorities are not free of responsibility and that they should be held accountable.
“The land, which [Mati] had been built on, is officially designated as a coastal area and therefore any construction is illegal,” he said.
Meanwhile, a legislative amendment submitted to Parliament yesterday stipulated the financial relief that will go toward victims of the wildfires, Kathimerini reports.
Co-signed by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, each damaged home owner will receive 5,900 euros for repairs and victims will be granted 4,400 euros for permanent physical injury. Each disabled beneficiary or those with large families are to receive another 600 euros on top of that.
Finally, Mr Skourletis promised that the government would soon unveil “a plan for the radical overhaul and re-planning of civil protection”, explaining that area fell within the remit of Alternate Citizens’ Protection Minister Nikos Toskas.