Local authorities prompt gripes
Greece’s Ombudsman revealed in an annual report yesterday that most of the complaints made against the civil service last year related to local government authorities and social security organizations. After presenting the annual report to Parliament Speaker Anna Psarouda-Benaki yesterday, Ombudsman Giorgos Kaminis said that Greeks are turning more and more to the citizens’ watchdog, submitting more than 10,000 complaints in 2005. Kaminis said that one of the problems faced by the Ombudsman is reaching the right person who can solve the reported gripe. «We have noticed a consistent denial to cooperate from certain local government officials, despite the fact that KEDKE (the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece) has requested more regular legal checks be imposed on municipalities,» he said. However, Kaminis did admit that local authorities are improving and that the service has managed to stay free of political bias while gaining credibility. The number of reports submitted by citizens that fell within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction also grew. Previous data showed that about 30 percent of complaints received were beyond the Ombudsman’s realm of activity. The watchdog began operation in Greece eight years ago and claims to solve about 87 percent of the cases it receives. Complaints against municipalities are often related to accusations about the poor maintenance of public areas. This includes a failure to provide the necessary cleaning services, negligible care of parks and badly constructed footpaths and roads, according to Kaminis. Protests against social security services were aimed at delays recorded in the decision to pay pension sums. One extreme case showed that a man had to wait 14 years to have his appeal heard against a decision to pay the IKA social security fund. Other complaints made by citizens related to town planning, forestry services and school conditions.
