Fruit farmers say shooting spree fallout is ruining them
Strawberry producers in Nea Manolada, in the Peloponnese, where dozens of migrant workers were injued when their supervisors opened fire on them last week, have told Kathimerini that the repercussions of the incident are threatening them with financial ruin.
According to Fotis Kyriazis, who leads the Yrmini cooperative, much fruit is still in the fields, as migrant workers are too scared to return to work for fear of inspections that have been intensified. Of the fruit that has been picked, much is in refrigeration after a flood of order cancellations over the past week. Producers are planning to visit Athens this week to seek government support.
Meanwhile Ombudsman Calliope Spanou said on Wednesday that the state was to blame for the Nea Manolada incident, indicating that adequate inspections of working conditions on regional farms would have helped to prevent their deterioration and may have averted the violence.
