Delayed mobilization? The Municipality of Kythira approves direct assignment of fire safety zone cleaning after the disaster

With delay and after the fire has already left behind burnt areas of about 27.000 acres, the Municipality of Kythera proceeded only today, with αDecision of the Mayor, in direct award of EUR 36.803,45 for cleaning and improving the passability of critical fire safety zones on the island.

The decision was signed on August 4, 2025, namely a few days after the fires that swept through Western Kythera from Pitsinades in the north, to Drymonas and the Vani area in the south, burning residential areas, agricultural and grassland, forest areas. Many Kythera residents have already spoken of poor preparation and late mobilisation of the municipal authority, and this decision seems to confirm, in retrospect, these concerns.

The contract is awarded to the local contractor Nikolaos Souris, located in Potamos Kythira, and concerns:

• Cleaning of fire safety zones
• Improving the passability to support access in the event of an emergency
• Protection the built and natural environment

The project is expected to be completed within three months from the signing of the contract.

However, the choice of direct award, a few days after the disaster, raises legitimate questions:

• Why had the clean-ups not been done earlier, before the start of the fire season?;
• Was there a prevention plan and if so, why was it not implemented in time?;
• Was the Municipality's civil protection mechanism activated during the fire?;

The picture, for now, remains blurred.

A chronological juxtaposition of events:

Questions arising from the above:

• What was the the content of the primary request of 22 July and why it was not activated at the beginning of the fire season, but only 4 days before the devastating fire started? How do you explain that just 36 hours since Saturday morning's tragic the Commission has adopted Decision No 3501/24-07-2025 invitation of the Mayor?;
• How is it possible to be considered preventive intervention a project which was awarded since the island has been affected from the fire?; In which areas specifically will the local contractor operate?; Within the burnt areas or in East (and Northwest) Kythera, which at the present juncture, and according to testimonies of residents, there is an urgent need for fire protection, in the middle of the fire season?;
• When and by whom was the drafting and approval of the study with serial number 54/2025; Is this a study prepared after the fact after the West Kythera was burned?;
• What exactly did the Municipality of Kythera with the funding it had secured from March (ID: ΨΠ9Y46MTΛ6-XΨP) with €181.000,00 from the Ministry of Interior and because it was not exploited in time before the start of the fire season?;

The above questions are particularly important as the decision of 4 August appears as a reaction to a disaster and not as a product of prevention. If the design was adequate, then either there was an unexplained delay, either someone did not take the right measures at the critical moment. The answers must be provided by the Mayor himself and the relevant departments.

What society says, what the opposition does

The local community remains in turmoil. Many citizens are publicly expressing their frustration at the lack of coordination and the deterioration of prevention. At the same time, the Municipal Authority is attempting to respond with actions such as this one, but the political damage is already being felt.

The opposition, so far, seems unable to rise to the occasion, limited to the role of silent observer — watching mentally a Mayor who, with political instructions from the Maximos building, attempts to set up a a plan to buy off social discontent with promises and sketchy announcements. Neither in closed meeting convened in secret by the Mayor, excluding councillors and local media, not even through official interventions in the press, there has been the necessary institutional and political scrutiny. No direct demand for accountability - neither at administrative nor at legal level -λand the fire left behind only scorched earth, and not shattered political credibility. The function of the Local Civil Protection Coordination Body (LCCB) and the administrative readiness of the Municipality remain untouchable, despite the obvious omissions that led to the disaster.

At the same time, residents of the areas affected both this year and in 2017 - as the fire struck again in almost the same zone - report to Kythera.News:

• The firebreaks that were opened in 2017, (again after the fire!), with Army equipment, have never been maintained since. They were allowed to be forested, completely defeating their purpose.
• Η Care for the rural roads are non-existent, with roads impassable, which hampered the access and intervention efforts of firefighters.

Residents speak of chronic indifference and absence of a plan, and call not only for post-fire work, but for ongoing, effective prevention.

The questions are clear, well-founded and urgent. If they are not answered, the case must be brought to justice. Not only to assign responsibility, but also to send the message that fires do not only burn forests and property - they also burn people's trust in the state and institutions.

This summer, in Kythera, not only the earth was scorched. The last margin of tolerance was burned. From now on, silence is tantamount to complicity.