Environment crying out for protection
Simply as a formality, a European Commission delegation on the environment visits Greece every year. Like all Greek citizens, European monitors are well aware that the Ministry of Public Works cares very little about the environment, for which it is responsible, and they are almost certain to find that the situation has deteriorated since their last visit. So, each year – on the occasion of the European delegation’s visit – Giorgos Souflias’s ministry laments the fate of Lake Koroneia, finds a number of excuses to explain why it hasn’t done anything on the garbage disposal front, promises that steps will be taken to promote biological waste disposal and improve the Eastern Attica sewerage system, and pledges to pay closer attention to wildlife protection zones. Next year, the European environment inspectors will hear all the same excuses. It is obvious that at some point the Commission representatives will grow tired of submitting the same results every year and will eventually record the most obvious, brief, conclusion in their notebooks: «Greece needs an environment ministry.»
