Crete News of April 2006
Desertification of Crete;
Lassithi Sets the Environment Agenda
The Union of Municipalities and Communities of Lassithi (TEDK) has bravely commissioned and published a study on the environment in Lassithi. The study, taking four months to complete, found that Lassithi is an area of great natural beauty.
However the study which was carried out by a professional organization called Developmental Studies (ETAM EPE) has pointed out some worrying indicators;
- The inside of Lassithi is underdeveloped, without sufficient infrastucture, although the North of the Department is ‘drowned’ under new developments;
- There are significant problems contributing to ‘desertification’, overuse of land for sheep-rearing has led to a reduction in plant life and greenery; The use of chemicals on the land has caused large areas to become unable to support new growth; Major public works are given the go-ahead without any public study of the environmental consequences;
- An unacceptable level of ‘de-forestation’; natural forest being cut down to make way for farmland or other development.
- A serious lack of strategy to deal with waste disposal. Current practices were criticized as inadequate, without any organized attempt at re-cycling.
- Projects to update the treatment of raw sewage need to be urgently completed.
Councillors in Lassithi will take the recommendations of this report as a basis for considering any future plans that would have an impact on the natural environment.
Robbery in Anogia; 1.25m in Cash Goes in Daylight Raid
One of the largest ever hauls from a single robbery in Greek history has taken place in Anoigia, in the Rethymnon Prefecture. The area in which this occurred, on April 1st, has featured strongly in the news this month, due to a common element; guns.
At 12.30 midday, a security van was stopped on a regional road outside the village. Three hooded men in a red Fiat Punto, without plates, created an ‘accident’ by driving into the van. Shooting guns into the air, they apparently forced the driver and his colleague out, and gained entry to the van before disappearing, with both vehicles, leaving the security guards on the roadside. The van was later discovered with its cargo of 1.25m euros missing.
The driver and co-driver of the security van were subsequently arrested because the police suspected their compliance in the theft. However a few days later they were released as there was no evidence against them.
Ierapetra Pins Hopes on Tourism
After a very poor year for agriculture, the area of Ierapetra, Europe’s southernmost town, will be turning its attention increasingly to the tourist trade, according to sources within the Town Hall. Many factors have placed pressure on farmers in Crete, and Ierapetra has felt the heat more than most. The region has grown to rely heavily on a very profitable return on its primary investment in greenhouse produced fruit and vegetables, including, most famously, early tomatoes and bananas. Losses on agricultural production can be blamed on world markets, which have shifting loyalties, and the recent sailors’ strike that left farmers with no way to move their goods to buyers on the mainland, affecting confidence generally. On one occasion last month, farmers carried a coffin filled with rotten tomatoes through the centre of Heraklion.
Mass tourism and an over-inflated property market for foreign buyers, as seen in the rest of Crete, has not yet come to Lassithi, although it appears its time, maybe, has come.
Senseless Shooting leads to Fears of Vendetta in Anogia
On April 5th at midday, a minor accident outside a school in Anogia, Rethymnon Prefecture, led to the shooting of two innocent people. Two cars apparently collided, without serious damage to either. The two drivers, one a man from the neighbouring village of Zoniana, 25 years old, the other a villager from Anogeia, 36, got out of their cars and began arguing loudly. At some point, the Zoniana man went back to his car and producing a handgun, he fired three shots.
One of his shots hit Anastasios Heretis, 23, a passer-by who had heard the argument and tried to stop it. He remains in Venizelio Hospital in a coma, having received a wound to the head. According to the latest medical reports, his condition has improved recently and there have been signs of recovery.
Another round hit a schoolboy, Georgos Sopasis, 17, in the chest as he was about to board his school bus. Although seriously hurt, the youth is out of danger. The gunman departed the chaotic scene but turned himself in to the police two days later, accompanied by family members. He has since been taken to Athens to await trial, as risk of reprisals in Crete were seen as too great for him to be held here.
This incident drew an almost unprecedented reaction from the Cretan news media, as real fears of the start of a vendetta were raised. One newspaper led with the headline ‘No More Blood’ and appealed to members of the families involved not to begin a ‘tit-for-tat’ cycle of killing. Many people remember the damage caused to communities around the island by vendettas that have lasted for generations. Ironically, only a few months ago, the people of Anogeia signed a declaration in the presence of Members of Parliament, agreeing to give up ownership of firearms. It should be noted that this latest incident occurred only ten metres from the police station. Only three police officers are employed for the area which has one of the worst reputations in Crete for the carrying, and using, of guns.
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