In Brief
COASTLINE WORKS
Environmentalists campaign against beach development Environmental protesters distributed leaflets to thousands of people visiting beaches at the southern suburbs of Alimos and Vouliagmeni yesterday to gain support for their appeal against an allegedly illegal tender which allowed the beaches to fall into the hands of construction companies, including Attikat, who plan to develop the sites. Members of the Coordinating Committee for the Salvation of the Saronic Coastal Zone claim the two beaches were given to developers by Hellenic Tourist Properties – the asset-management arm of the Greek National Tourist Organization – on Friday after an original tender for the provision of services was allegedly converted into a concession agreement. The committee, concerned the nearby beaches of Voula and Varkiza face the same fate, says it will take its appeal against the alleged illegal tender to the European Court. PRIVATE SCHOOLS Owners say law restricting staff sackings ‘must go’ Private school owners on Saturday repeated their demands that the government should halt the implementation of a law passed last month which makes it harder for them to sack teachers employed for more than six years. The school owners, holding their general meeting on Saturday, said that they would pursue all legal channels to overturn the legislation, possibly taking their case to the European Court after appealing through the Greek legal system. They claim the new law has already damaged their relationships with the teachers who work for them. Also on Saturday, supply teachers, who want to be granted permanent posts, protested outside the Education Ministry. Medicine prices An appeal by the National Union of Pharmaceutical Companies challenging the government’s official list of maximum prices for over-the-counter medicines looks likely to be upheld after the Council of State ruled that the list is illegal and has been ruled illegal once before, court sources said yesterday. The state’s highest administrative legal authority had upheld a previous appeal lodged by a pharmaceuticals importer against a list with the same wording as that made public by the Development Ministry last November. Of the 116 commonly used medicines on the list, 61 are imported by the union’s member companies. Costas Karamanlis Opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis is in London today where he will meet his British counterpart – opposition Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith – after a visit to the Baltic Exchange for talks with Greek shipowners. Diving death A diving instructor who unsuccessfully tried to save one of his pupils who had lost consciousness during a lesson at Kala Nisia, off the coast of Corinth in the northern Peloponnese, was hospitalized on Saturday after his pupil’s body was dredged from the sea by Corinth port authorities alerted by the five other pupils on the training exercise. Constantinos Kalogeropoulos, 45, dived in after Nicholas Koletas, a 28-year-old bank employee, failed to resurface. The cause of death has not yet been confirmed by a coroner. Kalogeropoulos is being treated for overexposure to deep sea pressure. A diving instructor who unsuccessfully tried to save one of his pupils who had lost consciousness during a lesson at Kala Nisia, off the coast of Corinth in the northern Peloponnese, was hospitalized on Saturday after his pupil’s body was dredged from the sea by Corinth port authorities alerted by the five other pupils on the training exercise. Constantinos Kalogeropoulos, 45, dived in after Nicholas Koletas, a 28-year-old bank employee, failed to resurface. The cause of death has not yet been confirmed by a coroner. Kalogeropoulos is being treated for overexposure to deep sea pressure.
