As Fires Devastate Greece, Government Slow to Act

by Michael Schreiber / September 2007 issue of Socialist Action newspaper

While fires continued to burn across Greece, thousands demonstrated in Athens against the government’s mishandling of the disaster. On Sept. 4, over 1000 protested with banners demanding, “Spend money on firefighters, not weapons!” The demonstration was sponsored by the Greek Social Forum and the Confederation of Greek Workers.

Two weeks after the start of the conflagration, at least 65 people have been killed. Over 500,000 acres of forest and farmland, including some 1500 houses in nearby villages, have been demolished. It is estimated that half the farm production of the fire-hit areas will have been destroyed; even if the charred olive trees of the region are replanted, it could take a decade until they begin to bear fruit.

Greek forestry officials blame arsonists for most of the fires. The fires in Greece—and neighboring countries, such as Serbia and Bulgaria—have been exacerbated by extremely hot weather conditions and drought. Daily temperatures in southern Greece at the end of August regularly exceeded 100 degrees.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni told the press that the Greek fires, coupled with phenomena such as the devastating floods in Britain, show that the effects of global warming are already here.

Andreas Kloke of the OKDE (Greek section of the Fourth International) wrote about the situation in a recent letter to Socialist Action (Canada). “The question is,” he said, “how this catastrophe could happen and what should be done to avoid similar situations in the future. An answer to this question is simple and complicated at the same time.

“Simple because it is obvious that the criminal indifference of the present Nea Dimokratia (right-wing) government but also of all the governments of the last 25 or 30 years, including PASOK governments (1981-89, 1993-2004), towards our woods is responsible for the disaster.

“Annual wood fires burned the countryside but the governments saw no reason to take measures against them—let alone to invest in programs for the protection of the woods. The ongoing catastrophe was considered a ‘natural’ phenomenon that, in fact, was neglected since it served and continues to serve the interests of big construction enterprises and the tourist industry. Burned soil is good for commercial use. Therefore, probably 70-80% (or even more) of the wood fires are due to arson.

“There is no doubt that the fires of the last days in the Western Peloponnese, in Euboea, Attica, and elsewhere are caused by arson. The wood fires are the immediate result both of neoliberal policies, which mean the denial of the governments to protect the woods because of ‘lack of money,’ and clear capitalist interests. The government even intended to change Article 24 of the constitution in order to make the transformation of wooded areas into real estate easier. This the real, criminal background of the present tragedy.

“The problem is complicated because, as you understand, the whole orientation of governmental policy would have to change in order to protect our woods effectively. It would mean to put human needs, environmental tasks and so on before profits and ‘austerity programs.’

“Greece spent enormous sums, billions of dollars, for the Olympic Games 2004; it spends every year even more money for buying weapons from the U.S. and Western European countries. It spends money only in order to serve national and international capital.

“Our task is to convince people that this policy has to change and to win them for fighting in this direction. This might be difficult, but there is no other way. It will be interesting, of course, to see what impact this catastrophe will have on the Sept. 16 elections. The OKDE participates in the election in the ENANTIA (Unity of the Anti-capitalist Left) Alliance.”