Makeshift solutions
The lack of responsibility being shown by the state in its in handling of certain issues is no longer a laughing matter. A prime example of this irresponsibility is the shortsightedness and disastrous absence of policy in monitoring illegal dumping sites, the most infamous case being that of the Kouroupitos landfill in Crete. We evidently had no qualms about handing over the 4.72-million-euro fine to the European Commission for allowing the illegal dump to operate, nor did we consider the impact of this development on our standing as an EU member state. We had promised to solve the problem, but instead we covered up the dump in a makeshift way and opened an alternative site at Mesomouri – which ended up becoming a second Kouroupitos, with high concentrations of methane and toxic liquids. Now, we are going to be dragged back to court and forced to pay yet another fine – money we could have spent on building the facilities we had promised to in the first place… This behavior goes beyond sloppiness and mismanagement, it shows a total lack of conscience and dangerous indifference. Ignoring the environmental impact of its decisions, paying fines, thrashing out a makeshift solution right under the noses of EU inspectors – the state is acting like a spoiled child…
