Targeting illegitimacy
Fair enough, we are aware that this is a pre-election period and were prepared for the perverse logic that this entails, but there are limits – and that also applies to the systematic underestimation of our intelligence. The chaos began about two months ago when the government announced its «bold» (and ostensibly definitive) reforms for tackling the acute problem of illegally constructed properties. There were endless discussions, responses by the government to justified objections by experts and by the Technical Chamber of Greece, who maintained that the measures proposed by the controversial bill, rather than curbing the phenomenon, will allow even more properties to be illegally constructed. The effectiveness of the reforms was queried, as were the constant assurances by the government that the reform had not been influenced by forthcoming elections. However much the illegal construction of homes in urban areas can be distinguished from the sprouting of properties on forestland (whether state-owned or private), everyone understands that in essence the problem is one and the same – one of illegitimacy and illegality. After all, the government’s «political will» – as it was tirelessly projected then – was directed at illegitimacy in general, not just on forestland. And it was understood violators would not be immune from penalties just because an election campaign was underway…
