The problems arising from the bad weather «Hope» and the reaction of the state apparatus was mentioned by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to the Council of Ministers, which met in an extraordinary session.
The Prime Minister first apologized to the citizens for the inconvenience and admitted inadequacies and failures in dealing with the bad weather.
He stated that the responsibilities of Attiki Odos will be investigated according to the law passed by this government. While pointing out that for the first time, citizens who were stranded on Attiki Odos or inconvenienced by TRAINOSE will be given immediate compensation. And he made it clear that these compensations are irrelevant to any private claims that may arise or to any further actions that the State may take.
He also said that the causes of problems in the main streets of Athens should also be examined, “showing” thus, indirectly but clearly, the Region of Attica.
He admitted, however, that better coordination is needed between the state, local authorities and all relevant bodies and announced changes at this level. But he clearly supported the Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection and the Christos Stylianidis, which was, after all, his own personal choice.
Mitsotakis asked for the patience and understanding of citizens who still do not have electricity.
The Prime Minister, in particular, in his introductory statement said:
«Good morning. I would like to start by asking for a personal and sincere apology from our fellow citizens who suffered for many hours, being stuck on Attiki Odos.
There is clear responsibility on the concessionaire for the way he handled this, the last snowstorm. These will be fully investigated under existing legislation and the terms of the relevant contracts with the State.
Private entities that manage critical infrastructure, not for a tidy profit, have obligations. First, to be able to keep their path of accountability open. This is what happened on the Athens-Lamia highway. Unfortunately, however, it did not happen on the Attiki Odos. Hence the decision to give EUR 2 000 immediately to the drivers who were tested there. And, as the Minister of Infrastructure announced, there will also be compensation for those who travelled with TRAINOSE and suffered unfairly.
The EUR 2 000 compensation is independent of any private claims
I note that this is the first time that the state is taking action to relieve our fellow citizens who have suffered damage through this procedure. And I also recall that a law of this government has now added to the concession contracts the provision of compensation - I stress this - irrespective of any private claims that may arise or of the actions that the State will take in this matter.
But problems, let's be honest, were not only on Attiki Odos. There were also problems on main roads in the basin. It is clear that things did not go well there either, and we need to look at the causes that led to this situation and adjust our plans.
A big thank you goes to all the state officials and the Armed Forces who made superhuman efforts to extricate drivers, so that no lives were endangered. It was a titanic effort in extremely adverse conditions.
I also want to thank our health workers, the rescuers of the ambulance service, because despite the unprecedented snowfall, there were no malfunctions in the health system.
I ask for the patience and understanding of citizens who still do not have electricity
I would also like to thank the employees of BEDDIE for their efforts. Every tree that cuts a medium voltage power line is a special challenge, especially when these people have to fight with half a meter of snow. And for the few areas that still have no electricity, I ask for the patience and understanding of the citizens. I think in this area we learned the lessons of Medea and we were able to restore power in a much shorter period of time.
It is true that the infrastructure of a Mediterranean country is not always adapted to conditions of heavy snowfall. Although everywhere in the world, too much snow brings major problems.
It is equally true, however, that the state mechanism is not yet at the point of readiness that phenomena of such great intensity require. And this is primarily a matter of coordination between the parties involved: the state, local authorities, the region, municipalities and private individuals.
Changes for better coordination
It is clear, and if there is a lesson to be learned from the unsuccessful management of this blizzard, it is that in a crisis, the centres, the heads of all these structures, must be together, decide and act together immediately.
And there will be immediate changes in this direction so that we have crisis management committees that will bring all the stakeholders with very clear and unambiguous protocols in the same place, so that there are no phenomena of incoherence, delays in decision making, and sometimes even abdication of responsibility.
Indeed, it is difficult to solve decades-old problems in 30 months, and even more so when combined with successive and simultaneous challenges on many different fronts.
I support the choice of the Ministry of Climate Change
But, I will say it again, we have set the bar of expectations high and the comparison cannot be made with the weaknesses of yesterday, it is with the needs of today. I always understand the justifications. Yes, we had an unprecedented snowfall, yes the snow may have come a little faster than the meteorologists had predicted, but I'm not going to, I'm not going to use that as an excuse.
There have been failures and inefficiencies which need to be corrected. And it is for all these reasons that we have created the new Ministry of Climate Change. I will continue to support this choice, further strengthening its structures and capabilities. And by making sure that the functioning of the Ministry is made more efficient with better cooperation between all other Ministries.
We have proven that we have the courage to recognise our mistakes and the willingness to learn from them and become better.
So we learn and we move on.»
