EU pledges major aid package as fires wreak more destruction
European Union Regional Policy Commissioner Danute Hubner yesterday pledged to immediately release 200 million euros in EU aid for the regeneration of fire-ravaged areas in Greece and to earmark another 400 million euros for disbursement soon. But even as Hubner inspected the burnt areas during a helicopter tour to assess the damage wreaked, firefighters continued to struggle with three major fires. The worst of yesterday’s blazes were on Mount Parnon and other parts of Arcadia in the Peloponnese, as well as in Evia. Firefighters were reported to have lost control of the Mount Parnon blaze late last night, despite a concerted rescue effort from the air involving five water-dropping craft. Two fires that broke out on Thursday – one in the municipality of Gortyna, where eight villages have been evacuated, and one near the power station in Megalopolis – were also burning last night. In Arcadia, firefighters said they were surprised by a sudden intensification of winds that reignited blazes in Sarakini and Karytaina. The fire service stressed the importance of bringing the situation under control before the country’s fourth heat wave peaks today with temperatures topping 40C (104F). «Fires are receding overall but that does not mean that the danger has been eliminated,» a fire service official said. Meanwhile, the EU pledged to release immediately two hundred million euros with another 400 million euros likely to follow soon, Commissioner Hubner said. But the final sum is likely to reach 1 billion euros, Economy Ministry sources told Kathimerini. Donations were boosted by the US government’s pledge of 950,000 euros and China’s promise of 720,000 euros. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was due to arrive in Athens late last night in what was seen as a show of EU solidarity for the fire-ravaged country. Barroso is today expected to tour afflicted areas and speak to homeless residents. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis is in Italy where she has been discussing with her Italian counterpart Massimo D’Alema, the possible creation of a common firefighting force for Southeastern Europe, discussed at the end of last month in Paris by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Bakoyannis and D’Alema agreed «to work on transforming proposals into specific initiatives to establish a common, effective mechanism for preventing and combatting natural disasters.» Karamanlis yesterday said that regeneration efforts would be primarily focused on «rebuilding the lives» of local producers of olive oil and fruit and vegetables, whose livelihoods have been destroyed. Some 4 percent of the population have incurred losses over the past week of fires, while nearly a quarter (23 percent) claim to know someone who was affected, according to a poll conducted by VPRC on behalf of Skai. A delegation of 80 woodcutters, who had been working on the charred land on Mount Parnitha for the past month, were yesterday sent to Arcadia to start cutting down burnt trees and establishing anti-fire zones. By yesterday evening, the woodcutters had created a 1.5-kilometer stretch, southeast of the fire at Karytaina. «Our aim is to prevent the fire from spreading to Mainalos,» Nafpaktos forest ranger Giorgos Fountas told Kathimerini.
