Let’s be prepared in future
The Greek taxpayer makes a considerable contribution to the cost of procuring equipment for the country’s police and armed forces. However, every time that these forces have been called upon to join the fight against some devastating event like the most recent wildfires, they have been unable to deliver. The size of a body of men and the amount or quality of equipment they have been given to use have both proved inadequate. It is time that the state drew up a serious, five-year plan that will solve this problem and facilitate cooperation between the different forces. It is unacceptable that the air force has ordered helicopters that cannot be used in firefighting operations. It is unacceptable that Greece has been blackmailed, almost every year, by various companies which rent firefighting aircraft instead of building up an effective fleet through purchases or donations. Wildfires pose an enormous national threat which must be examined with no less attention than that given to external security threats to this nation.
