Get to work, leaders
It’s heartening to read about the new mobile applications that the government has made available for citizens to report illegalities or lack of compliance to safety regulations. But will they work?
I haven’t tried to use the new app; I intend to. However, every year I call my municipality with a significant complaint. I have spoken to several administrators, who inform me that this issue is not covered in their department.
It takes me seven minutes to walk to one of my favorite areas to hike, in the fields bordering the foothills of Ymittos. This morning, after a month, I walked up there, fully expecting the ever-present brush, the tall grasses and weeds to have been cut back or eliminated. After such a terrible fire so close to many neighborhoods, one would have thought that the necessary work would have begun.
But the brush was there, and it has grown. It was there all summer. Every summer. And every year, I call the municipality and complain.
A few months ago, in the spring, all citizens received the government’s stern warning, an order actually, to clear the brush from privately owned land. This is as it should be. But what about the land publicly owned? Obviously, no one would advocate the chopping down of actual trees, but the ugly brush, the low bushes, must be eliminated immediately, especially those within a half kilometer of homes and schools. This is a disaster ready to happen.
Our municipality has made some very modern and even showy strides towards modernity. They have installed cell phone chargers on many street corners. They try to keep water fountains clean. On the downside, they are also very slow to fix leaks in public water pipes. The sidewalks are a horror, but one cannot demand perfection, I guess.
Come on, distinguished leaders, whoever you are. Rise to comply with your own directives. Put as much effort and cash from our high tax payments towards protecting your constituents as you do in your political campaigns. We’re waiting.
Tenia Christopoulos is a writer from Washington, DC, who lives in Athens. She is a contributor to Kathimerini, The Washington Post, Insider Magazine and Tatler, and is the author of “Lords of the Dance.”
