Γ. Economou: «With phenomena of such intensity, it is almost impossible not to have problems»

«The government does not shirk its own responsibilities, nor does it hide behind its finger. There was a the issue of coordination of the central state with the municipalities, with local government, with the private sector, which resulted in not reaching the level of reaction we wanted, so as not to inconvenience people, especially those trapped in the Attiki Odos, where there was the big, central problem of this snowfall and the people who were inconvenienced by the interruption of electricity supply», the government spokesman said, Yannis Oikonomou in a television interview on the STAR news programme.

He stressed that «every possible effort is being made so that the electricity reaches the last houses. We had about 200,000 outages on Monday night, less than 2,000 to 3,000 remain today. Until the power reaches the last house, the crews of the BPA will not stop.

The BPA is working on a plan for compensation for people who have been cut off, but also for a permanent compensation mechanism. For this particular case, a model will be announced, in the near future, by the competent ministry or by the competent organisation.».

«Coordination was not what would have allowed us to get the results we wanted.».

As Mr. Economou said, «the whole mechanism of municipalities must do its best to address the problems and difficulties that exist now. At all levels, including that of the central government, but also in the municipalities, everyone must evaluate what did not work properly, why it did not work properly.

Coordination was not what would have allowed us to get the results we wanted. We have been making a huge effort in recent years, to create a mechanism and infrastructure that can withstand and cope. We are not there yet. We will continue this effort. On the other hand, it must be understood that, when we have phenomena of such intensity, it is almost impossible not to have problems, not to have arrhythmias. That is no excuse. It is also a challenge for all of us to continue the effort for better coordination and for a more effective response.».

The government spokesman stressed that «the discussion about the ping-pong of responsibilities is uninteresting when there are still people who are suffering. The creation of the Ministry of Climate Change-Civil Protection was an appropriate choice, precisely so that we can operate in a much better way against these phenomena. We support this effort.».

However, in response to a question, he said that «obviously still has the Prime Minister's confidence in Mr Stylianides. We did not get the level of response we wanted. Obviously the bar is much higher. But that doesn't mean we won't keep trying. The government has the special moral and political weight to do all that is needed to manage the difficulties and weaknesses and to be better each time in dealing with such phenomena, but also to be faster, more effective and more efficient.

«People were hurt, they must be compensated»

Regarding compensation from «Attiki Odos», Mr. Economou said that «at the initiative of the Ministry of Infrastructure, there was a meeting with ‘Attiki Odos’, in order to quickly run what was announced at the request of the Prime Minister, namely to compensate the people who suffered. The details will be announced in the near future. What concerns us is to run very quickly this commitment of the company, to compensate the people who have been inconvenienced by the private entity that manages an infrastructure, always within a framework such that it can be established who are the ones who are entitled to it, who are the ones who have been inconvenienced and how exactly the distribution will be made.

What we are interested in is that the spirit and substance of this compensation is respected.. People have suffered, they must be compensated. Apparently this does not negate the right of people to appeal and claim what more and more they can.», added Mr. Economou.

The no-confidence motion «is a prime opportunity to have a long and open debate»

Speaking of motion of no confidence submitted by SYRIZA, the government spokesman said: «Mr Tsipras' proposal was entirely expected. It is a move directly linked to his growing political disparagement, because of the type and style of opposition he has chosen. Nevertheless, this is a prime opportunity to have a large and open debate, for citizens to hear about the economy, about shielding the country, about jobs, about the rule of law, about the digital transformation of the state, about the performance of this government on a range of issues that affect their lives. For citizens who find jobs, who pay less ENVIA, who face less bureaucracy, who do not feel the agony of unruly refugee invasions on the islands and Evros. At the same time, they will remember what kind of party SYRIZA was and what kind of party it still is. It will therefore be a first-class opportunity to talk about the country's recent course and for everyone to draw their own conclusions.».

As for the attitude of Nikos Androulakis, Mr. Economou said that «Mr. Androulakis from what little we have heard so far, we all understand that he is a noble man, but which has an extremely epidermal approach around key issues. Without a substantial reference to solutions and proposals that can realistically be implemented in a difficult international environment and to address challenges and problems posed by the interconnected crises we are facing as a country and as a society. And on the other hand, we heard him say that on the one hand he will vote for the motion of impeachment of Syriza - obviously because he has decided to turn far to the left - but on the other hand he is not calling for elections because he believes that they are not feasible in these circumstances. These two sound somewhat contradictory. It votes to bring down a government, but it does not want elections to follow.».