Too much bureaucracy
First things first: Provisions for “fire prevention measures on plots and in other uncovered areas located in or near residential areas” have been in force since 1987. According to the Official Gazette, “owners or in any way exploiters of plots of land and other uncovered areas located within or near residential areas and up to a distance of 100 meters are obliged to clear them of grasses and remove any other flammable materials to prevent the risk of fire. The state, local government organizations, legal entities, organizations etc have the same obligation, as long as they are the owners of such premises.”
The big “reform” this government has done is to add unnecessary red tape. It is no longer enough for citizens and taxpayers to clear their property of flammable materials, as logic and the previous law required. They must also declare it on the platform with the evocative name “Akatharista” (meaning “uncleared” in Greek).
We assumed that the measure was imposed because “there is unallocated money from the EU Recovery Fund, the ministers are creating useless digital platforms and in order to justify them, they are forcing citizens to go through additional bureaucracy,” as I had previously commented in Kathimerini in May this year. Last week, we found that it has another beneficial side effect for the government, since it can be used to promote the government narrative. Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told Skai TV that “eight out of 10 plots, houses, and buildings that are now marked, either yellow or red (i.e are either partially or completely destroyed) had plots that had not been cleared.”
Some questions arise from this statement: First, isn’t it possible that these “eight out of 10 plots” had been cleared but not declared on the aforementioned platform? According to the platform, “landscaped, maintained gardens, planted surfaces of uncovered areas of buildings, apartment buildings etc are excluded from the scope of this ministerial decision.” How does the government know which of those destroyed plots were cleared and which were “landscaped, maintained gardens,” since the latter are not declared? The answer is simple: They don’t know. They just throw out a number to impress the ignorant and the nonsense becomes the “truth” through constant repetition on television.
Second and most important question: Will the 1,000-euro fine be imposed on the owners of those burnt houses that were undeclared, or is this yet another law that will be ignored? Someone will logically think, “But people are suffering, their house burned down and you want them to be smacked with a 1,000-euro fine because they didn’t declare it on that platform?” To paraphrase the famous Latin saying “Absurdus lex, sed lex,” the law is absurd, but it is the law. In the new law, there is no provision to exempt from the fine someone whose house burnt down.
Of course, nothing will be done and no fines be imposed, as common sense dictates. We should note, however, that, once again, we are making laws for the sake of it, millions of citizens are burdened with unnecessary bureaucracy just so that government ministers can imply that they legislated reforms but it is our fault our house was burned.
This year, the government also introduced something useful. The use of drones in the detection of fires. Could they also be used for prevention? That is, to inspect plots from above, to inform the municipal authorities where to go, to clear them, and then send the bill to the owners though the taxman? That would make more sense than forcing millions of people to declare that they have cleared their land.
