• EL - ελληνικά
  • EN - English
Parliamentary question - E-010988/2013Parliamentary question
E-010988/2013

No to privatisation of Karathona beach

Question for written answer E-010988-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Georgios Toussas (GUE/NGL)

Privatisation of Karathona beach in Nafplion Argolidas (100 hectares) is currently being negotiated by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund. This will have a serious impact on the working and grassroots classes in the area as a whole. This unacceptable decision forms part of the anti-grassroots policy of the New Democracy/PASOK coalition, the EU and the Troika to sell off the country’s public spaces and infrastructure to monopoly groups.

The commercialisation of Karathona beach has been pursued for many years now. Nafplion municipal council has granted licences for shops on the beach, which basically block free access for local workers.

Nafplion municipal council has allowed an illegal rubbish dump to operate directly above Karathona beach; this is an accident waiting to happen in terms of the health of bathers and local residents and a permanent source of environmental pollution. The rubbish dump is bursting at the seams and fires have broken out on numerous occasions, causing fire damage to part of the mountain. The stench is unbearable and the first rains of the season have washed filthy water down from the dump into the sea.

The New Democracy/PASOK coalition, previous governments, the Nafplion municipal council and the East Peloponnese regional government have a great deal to answer for, because they refuse to separate paper, glass, metal and organic waste as the first step towards effective and cheap recycling. They have opted to maximise mixed refuse dumps and go down the incineration route. This poses a huge threat to public health, because it produces carcinogenic dioxins and other forms of waste which are harmful to health and damage the environment. Waste management is designed so that waste companies make a profit, not to protect the health of ordinary people and the local environment.

What is the Commission’s stand on the fair demands by local workers in the area being put forward by the Greek Communist Party, the Popular Rally and the media that Karathona beach should not be sold off and that beaches with suitable infrastructures should be accessible to everyone, free of charge? What is its stand on the demands being made for a government waste management agency to be set up, for waste to be sorted at source, recycled and composted (for organic fertiliser) and for the remainder to be buried in landfills, for the jobs and labour rights of all workers in this sector to be protected and for the dump to be closed immediately and the site restored?

OJ C 208, 03/07/2014