Issue No.
13381
Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos
Fuel stations strike on March 18
THE board of the Gasoline Station Owners Federation decided on March 8 to call for a 24-hour closure of gasoline stations next Thursday 18 March. The sector’s general assembly will be convening on March 21 to decide on the form of further action. Gasoline sellers are reacting to the instalment of cash registers without the simultaneous instalment of integrated systems for the control of the inflow and outflow of the volume of fuel at gasoline stations, while they are also protesting the illegal, as they are stressing, retrogressive increase in the Special Consumption Tax with a procedure that burdened gasoline sellers.
Quake jolts islands
TWO undersea quakes rattled the islands of Evia and Skopelos on March 9. The 4.0 and 4.3 tremors occurred at 4am and 4.55am, 100 kilometres northwest of Athens. Authorities on the islands of Evia and Skopelos, reported no injuries or serious damage.
4th most popular EU tourist destination
GREECE is the fourth most popular tourist destination in the European Union for 2010, according to the EU Eurobarometer poll, unveiled on March 9. The most popular tourist destination in the EU is Spain, followed by Italy and France. Responding to the question “where do you intend to go for holidays in 2010”, 8.3 percent said Spain, 6.1 picked Italy, 5.8 percent prefer France and 3.9 percent said Greece.
New energy bill unveiled
THE ENVIRONMENT ministry announced on March 8 that a new draft bill on improving energy efficiency and other energy-related issues had been posted on the website www.opengov.gr for public debate. It said the new draft bill includes the sum of policies and measures harmonising Greek legislation with EU directives for reducing energy consumption, restricting losses of energy and improving energy efficiency.
Among others, it seeks to change the way that power is used and utilised by consumers so that energy requirements are lowered, while at the same time improving quality of life by creating the conditions and requirements for an energy services market and the provision of energy efficiency improvement measures to consumers.
Ramps for wheelchairs
A TOTAL of 2,500 wheelcahir ramps will be installed across Athens, the municipality announced last week. Officials said the ramps will be marked by bright-yellow paint and a bright-blue wheelchair symbol. The asphalt strip in front of the ramp will also be painted yellow. “Some 17,500 violations involving mostly privately-owned vehicles parking illegally on wheelchair ramps were documented in 2009,” City Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis said
Athens dons Saharan guise
It was a good day for carwashes on March 8 as a cloud of dust enveloped the Greek capital colouring the sky with hues of orange and yellow. The storm of red sand, originating from the Sahara, halted ferry services while the Rio Antirio bridge connecting western Greece to the Peloponnese was closed
Thessaloniki, Busan twinned
THESSALONIKI Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos (photo) signed a twinning protocol with the mayor of the South Korean city of Busan, Hur Nam-sik, on March 8. The signing took place at the City Hall of Busan. Busan, Korea’s largest seaport and the fifth largest in the world, is a candidate city for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Annual NSS study on poverty released
GREECE’s National Statistics Service (NSS) on March 9 put the number of families threatened by poverty at 832,975, - or roughly 2.1 million people - based on incomes and living conditions for 2008. The poverty index - calculated with the same methodology - apparently shows a relevant consistency over the past 14 years, from 1994 to 2007. The benchmarks are 6,480 euros for a single person living on their own and 13,608 euros for a nuclear family of two adults and two children, whereas the average income of households in the country was set at 22,243 euros. However, as in previous years, there was no variable in the study taking into account the phenomenon of tax evasion in the country, with instances of well-paid physicians and attorneys, amongst others, declaring annual incomes below the above figures.
Cyprus TV host in custody until murder trial
A CYPRUS television host and her brother will remain in police custody until their trial resumes on June 7 over the killing of the island’s top publisher. A Nicosia criminal court turned down a defence request that Elena Skordelli and Anastasios Krasopoullis be kept under house arrest. The siblings face life in prison if convicted on charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Andy Hadjicostis. Both have pleaded not guilty. Hadjicostis, the 41-year-old director of the Dias Media Group, was gunned down on January 11 outside his Nicosia home. Prosecutors believe that the firing of 42-year-old Skordelli from Dias-owned Sigma TV station and the sibling’s bid to gain a majority stake in Sigma motivated the killing.
Suspect shot dead
A 35-year-old man was killed during an exchange of gunfire with police in the Athens suburb of Dafni in the early hours of March 10. According to the police report, patrolling officers were preparing to investigate two suspects in a stationary car when the suspects opened fire. The officers reportedly returned fire, fatally wounding one of the men. The other man escaped. The Directorate of Criminal Prosecution and Anti-terror Unit have begun investigations.
ATHENS NEWS 28/08/2009, page: 8-9
