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Sunday, 24 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-07-22Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM chairs cabinet meeting on waste managementThe interior ministry proposals concerning solid waste management were unanimously approved during the inner cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Tuesday. Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos underlined the importance of the issue and pointed out that it has both environmental and social dimensions, adding that the goal was to shut down roughly 3,000 landfills and "enter the waste processing era". The approximately 3,500 hectares of land that will be recovered as a result will be reserved for alternative uses while upgrading of the environment, Pavlopoulos stressed. Notable progress in waste management will have to be made by the end of 2008 for Greece to stop being answerable to the EU, while by 2020 the issue will have to be completely settled following the example of the rest EU countries, he stated. Deputy Interior Minister Thanasis Nakos commented that by the end of 2008 a total of 2,500 landfills will be closed while other 490 will also be shut down soon. "Making this progress we will have adequate arguments in our favor in the European Court to avoid penalties," Nakos said. Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos stated that the country is entering a new era after the decision to adopt modern forms of waste management and the establishment of integrated waste management industrial plants. Roussopoulos stated that the construction of four such industrial plants will get underway immediately while similar projects will soon be undertaken across Greece. Caption: ANA-MPA file photograph of Maximos Mansion, which houses the premier's offices and where cabinet meetings are held.[02] Tsipras meets Siemens staffCoalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) leader Alexis Tsipras met Tuesday with the Association of Siemens (Hellas) Employees, after which he warned that hundreds of people who have been working at Siemens for decades were today at immediate risk."Siemens is not as generous towards its employees as it has apparently been with the authority and its political cadres," Tsipras said. He said that hundreds of employees who have been working for decades at Siemens were currently at immediate risk "because the parent company has decided to change direction and reduce its production activities in our country". Tsipras said that the government must assume its responsibilities, but added, however, that "we have a government that is incapable of solving any problem whatsoever, and a prime minister who is outside the realms of reality, and who goes to burnt Ancient Olympia for youth fiestas," referring to premier Costas Karamanlis' address to the ruling New Democracy (ND) youth organization ONNED's annual conference and Youth Festival, which took place in Ancient Olympia this year. Replying to a question on economic policy, Tsipras said that economy and finance minister George Alogoskoufis was unable to tackle the major problems of the economy, adding that society was in a crisis, but despite that the government insisted on "the same tried and failed recipes". Tsipras further predicted that the social crisis would sooner or later turn into an 'explosion'. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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