Perama
In Perama, with 50,000 inhabitants, there are 7,000 unemployed ship workers. The locals say the situation has gone from bad to worse in the past 10 years. The economic chain of the city has broken, disrupting the social fabric. «This was a thriving area before the economic crash in 1990. Fifty percent of the residents worked in the shipbuilding industry. In fact – and this is the worst part – their children didn’t go to university because they saw what high wages their parents earned. Now those children are unemployed and with just school leaving certificates,» Perama Mayor Yiannis Lagoudakos told Kathimerini. In just a decade, Perama has become a city of the unemployed. «Lately, even the stores are closing down, dismissing staff. Every day, 50 people – even those aged 40-50 – come to the municipal offices looking for work. In such circumstances, the many environmental and housing problems in our area take a back seat,» said Lagoudakos. When an entire city is hit so hard by unemployment, the effects on the social fabric are blatant. «If a survey was done in Perama today, I am sure it would show that a large proportion of the population have less than the average income of the poor,» said Sakellis. «Unemployment, combined with poverty and environmental problems, reproduces itself. People do not acquire the appropriate skills for getting out of the fringes of society, and long-term unemployment intensifies social exclusion. I believe that Perama is on the verge of completely turning into a ghetto.» One worrying aspect is the effect of this situation on the town’s youngsters. «On one hand, they are forced into emotional isolation and alienation – sickness. Luckily there isn’t a large degree of drug use,» said the mayor. «Our young people oppose every suggestion; they don’t believe in anything; they’re not interested in anything. They stay at home until they are 30 or 40. They don’t get married and have children because they can’t even afford to feed themselves. The parks are full of people aged 20-30 who don’t do anything.»
