In Brief
LAND DISPUTE
Prefect blames town planning department for granting license Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros yesterday blamed the City of Athens town planning department for reportedly granting a license for the use of a piece of land in central Athens whose ownership is under dispu e. According to Sgouros, the firm D&D Gioulis acquired a license to operate using documents issued by municipal officials. Earlier this week, the owner of the Gioulis firm sued Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis for allegedly trespassing on his land in Ambelokipi after municipal officials started cleaning up the site, which City Hall says it owns. HUNGER STRIKE Group of trade unionists protest against mismanagement A group of 16 trade unionists, representing staff at Thessaloniki’s water and sewage board, went on hunger strike yesterday, in protest at the alleged mismanagement of the organization and the award of projects to contractors without competition. According to a spokesman, the unionists chose to go on hunger strike – instead of other forms of protest – so as to save other citizens from inconvenience. The protesters said they would continue their strike until their demands have been met. FATAL OPERATION Nose surgery turns deadly Directors at Thessaloniki’s Ippocrateio hospital have ordered an internal inquiry into what caused the death of a 24-year-old woman who underwent nose surgery at the hospital. According to sources, there were complications during the operation and the unnamed woman had to be transferred to intensive care. The patient died a few days later. Drug arrests Police yesterday arrested a 23-year-old man in Argolida, in the Peloponnese, for allegedly cultivating eight cannabis plants that reached a height of 3.5 metres. The plants were seized and destroyed, police said, adding that the suspect was expected to be formally charged yesterday. In a separate incident in nearby Nafplion, authorities arrested a man for possession of a small quantity of heroin. Flood prevention Work has picked up on the placement of protective timber barriers to help prevent soil erosion and flooding in Arcadia in the Peloponnese, one of the areas hardest hit by the forest fires this summer, according to local officials. More than 100 workers have started placing wooden beams to prevent soil erosion as authorities try to complete the project before the first rainfall. One official said that Public Power Corporation (PPC) and Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) have agreed to help supply them with the necessary wooden barriers. Illegal immigrants Seventeen illegal immigrants were arrested on the eastern Aegean islands of Chios and Samos yesterday, according to the Merchant Marine Ministry. Ten of the immigrants were found on Chios in the area of Ionias, while a small sailing boat was found abandoned nearby. On Samos, five of the seven migrants detained were children. They told authorities they crossed over into Greece from Turkey on board a boat which they later destroyed. Dangerous goods The state’s Supreme Chemical Council yesterday declared as «unfit for human consumption and a risk to public health» peach marmalade trading under the name «Iraklis.» The council warned consumers that have purchased the firm’s 5-kilo plastic tubs to return them untouched. The marmalade is believed to contain unsafe levels of chemicals such as sulfurous acid, experts said. The council also advised against the use of an «aluminium sport bottle» produced by a Chinese manufacture. Tests showed that the flasks were lined with a chemical that dissolves in water, the council said. Body found The Coast Guard have found the body of a woman, partly decomposed, in the beach area of Alatos on Amorgos, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The body of the woman, who was about 1.7 metres tall, was taken for autopsy.
