Anti-flood works start as fires are finally put out

Long-term reconstruction proposed

As works got under way yesterday to clear up fire-ravaged areas and install anti-flood works, experts called on authorities to implement a long-term plan for environmental protection.

The proposal, by seven organizations of civil engineers, economists, lawyers and academics, came a day after heavy rain caused flooding in northern Greece.

Meanwhile, firefighters sought to extinguish a fire near Mount Parnon, in the southern Peloponnese, while another blaze on Chios was curbed. All other fire fronts had abated, officials said.

Unprecedented fire damage, and the subsequent risk of flooding, should prompt a shakeup of environmental policy, experts said. «This disaster is an opportunity for exemplary development in all areas,» said Yiannis Alavanos, the president of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE). The group warned against the rapid development of burnt areas aimed at boosting tourism. Instead it called for the creation of «model settlements.» It also called for residents to be trained in new agricultural practices, such as organic stockbreeding.

All burnt forestland should be immediately reclassified to ward off would-be developers, the group added. According to figures released yesterday, 95,000 hectares of land and 4.5 million olive trees have been destroyed in the prefecture of Ileia alone. Experts have highlighted the burnt forest of Kaiafa, an EU-protected area, and Ancient Olympia as priority spots for immediate restoration.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who toured Arcadia yesterday, said the government had already launched regeneration. «We are moving ahead with plans for dynamic growth that is kind to the environment,» he said.

In a bid to help authorities with «fire management and the rehabilitation of burnt landscapes,» the USA yesterday said it had dispatched a six-member team of experts to Greece. In the meantime, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, in Brussels for an informal meeting, said her European counterparts had «all reacted positively» to a proposal for a common EU force for tackling natural disasters.

In the Peloponnese yesterday, regional authorities were overseeing the launch of anti-flood works in a bid to avoid the widespread flooding that hit Halkidiki on Sunday. A group of 50 woodcutters made a start on building flood barriers and another 150 are expected to join them over the course of the week.

In another development, available funding for victims who lost their homes to the fires continued to accumulate. Donations to a fund being supervised by former foreign minister Petros Molyviatis rose to 62.3 million euros.