The "5 Mayors" Decry Paying Power Bills for Poor
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
Municipalities paying power bills for households cut off from the grid is not a solution according to the “Initiative of the Five Mayors,” in a press conference they gave jointly.
The mayors, of Athens (Giorgos Kaminis), Thessaloniki (Yannis Boutaris), Patra (Yannis Dimaras), Volos (Panos Skotiniotis) and Ioannina (Filippos Filios) noted that the government only takes municipalities into account when it finds itself in a tight corner.
Speaking in the wake of the tragic death of a 15 year old from carbon monoxide poisoning from a makeshift heating brazier, used because of the power being cut off, Mr. Boutaris said there was obviously a problem with heating, but that houses are engulfed by flames on a daily basis, adding that the tragic victim and her mother were in the country illegally and thus were afraid to ask for help.
On his part Athens mayor, Giorgos Kaminis said that the issue of citizens' inability to pay electricity bills is fodder for populism and demagogy and asked of mayors who have offered to pay the bills of needy citizens, how they would do it, and how they would assess their need?.
Mr. Skotiniotis noted that the Council of Auditors forbade municipal outlays for citizens, while Mr. Filios noted that the government is doing nothing to regulate such debts to PPC DEH.
The five stressed that theirs was a political movement as the central state mechanism remains over-centralized despite promises and claims of reforms.
