In Brief
TRANSPORT WOES
48-hour taxi strike from tomorrow, rail strike Thursday There will be no taxis on the streets of Athens from 5 a.m. tomorrow until 5 a.m. on Friday after unionists called a 48-hour strike yesterday, demanding the right to increase their fares by 0.26 euros per kilometer and to use bus lanes. Taxi-drivers across the country will also hold a 24-hour strike tomorrow. Yesterday, urban railway workers decided to hold a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at social security reforms. Metro workers will decide whether they will join them when they meet today. PR CONTEST Opposition chief blitzes hospital, prime minister visits town hall New Democracy (ND) opposition leader Costas Karamanlis yesterday spoke of «images of shame» after his latest visit to a state hospital – the Center for the Treatment of Chronic Ailments in Skaramangas, on the western outskirts of Athens. The hospital, crippled by inadequate resources and staff, resembled an asylum rather than a modern clinic, said Karamanlis. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Costas Simitis paid a «surprise visit» to the town hall of Nikaia in Piraeus where he met locals in an apparent effort to challenge his popular image as distant. MOLE – GUN DEATH Makeshift weapon kills farmer A makeshift gun designed to stop moles from destroying crocus crops (which are used to produce valuable saffron) backfired yesterday when it killed a farmer in a village near the northern town of Kozani. Zizis Tsepouras, 57, was found dead near one of his fields after being shot in the chest by the popular trap, which he had apparently been examining. The illegal «gun» comprises a pipe with a cartridge of birdshot and a detonator at one end and some edible bait at the other. When the mole touches the bait it sets off the detonator which fires the cartridge. Gas blast Four people were injured yesterday after an explosion in a gas bottling factory on the southern approach to Athens airport. The blast – apparently triggered by a spark falling into the bottling machine – developed into a fire which was extinguished by the factory’s owner before the fire service arrived. The factory owner’s wife and three employees were stable yesterday, said doctors at Athens General Hospital. Rain forest protest Activists of the environmental group Greenpeace yesterday occupied a ship which docked yesterday at the port of Kalamaki, near Corinth, carrying timber from the tropical forests of Liberia. The group said it was protesting against rain-forest destruction. Cretan quake An undersea quake, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, occurred at 11 a.m. yesterday about 30 kilometers off the Gulf of Messara, southern Crete. No injuries or damage were reported. Ships collide The collision between a military transport hovercraft and a British-flagged cargo ship in fog yesterday near the port of Piraeus caused damage to both vessels but no injuries, navy sources said. The Russian-built hovercraft Kefallinia, capable of traveling up to 110 kilometers per hour, was moving at 17 kilometers per hour when it crashed into the Viking Land just after midday. New jail Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos said yesterday that 15.6 million euros had been set aside for the construction of a new jail in the prefecture of Grevena, central Macedonia, which will house up to 300 convicts. A contractor has already been appointed to build the jail which will be staffed with as many locals as possible, said Petsalnikos after his visit to Grevena’s town hall yesterday. Military exercise The navy yesterday launched its scheduled «Kataigis» exercise in cooperation with the air force and ground troops in the central and northern Aegean, navy sources said. The exercise – which brings together all active war ships, helicopters and navy aircraft – will continue until Saturday. Ferry checks Port authorities will carry out inspections on all passenger ferries due to ply summer routes, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. Ships failing any of the tests – on navigational apparatus, fire protection equipment, alarms, locks, and watertightness – will stay docked, said the ministry. It is due to get the inspection results on May 2.
