A draft law unveiled by the ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change last week seeks to guarantee that unauthorised construction and development will not take place in areas of east Attiki ravaged by the fires in August 2009.
The primary measures to be introduced by the proposed bill include a temporary suspension of all construction work, even in areas where building is allowed, and the establishment of a three-member committee on demolitions to eradicate the widespread phenomenon of unauthorised construction in burnt regions.
The draft law also provides the inclusion of all fire-ravaged land in the land registry process if not registered yet, and suspends implementation of current regulations for differentiating land as defined as forest from that of ‘a forested area’.
Construction will be suspended in areas where building is currently allowed but are within a region considered under reforestation. The suspension will last until maps of forestland have been finalised.
Legally built structures and those with legitimate building licenses issued before the wildfires are exempted from the ban, once they have been exempted by the special committee.A special committee on demolitions will be set up to eradicate unauthorised building in burnt regions, with technical support from the Hellenic Land Registry Office (OKXE).
Moreover, land registry procedures will begin immediately in the regions that have not been registered with OKXE yet and a forest map will be drawn up immediately.
The draft law also provides for the suspension of the Greek legislation that defines the criteria based on which an area is characterised as a forest or forest land.