JOINT STATEMENT OF COUNCILORS ELECTED WITH THE “POPULAR ASSEMBLY” IN THE MUNICIPALITIES OF EASTERN MACEDONIA AND THRACE
THE OPPOSITION OF THE PED AMTH TO THE DECISIONS OF THE KEDE AND THE GOVERNMENT POLICY THAT PROMOTES THE MERGER OF THE TWO AND THE FURTHER COMMERCIALIZATION OF WATER IS PRETACTUAL
The PED AMTH at a recent meeting of the Board opposed the government’s intention to merge the DEYAs into one per Region and also the counter-proposal of the KEDE to merge the DEYAs at the prefectural level.
This is a pretense of opposition that does not contradict the even greater commercialization of the social good of water, the privatization of water resources, since:
- “supplemented” by the objection “and to any proposal involving forced or compulsory amalgamation”. Therefore, it leaves wide open the possibility of mergers if they occur on a … voluntary basis!
- It supports the policy for “…economic development, the economic consolidation and independence of these companies…” and claims “to remain the current operating regime of the DEYA”, in short the policy that led us today to the “last act of the drama” of total privatization.
- At the same time, the PED AMTH claims “that there should be a transitional stage” as well as “consultation time” for “the drawing up of a documented and acceptable road map, to agree on the consolidation effort” of DEYA. And he can talk about “funding of the state to cover energy costs” or “the possibility of easy recruitment of staff”, but all this “due to the remunerative nature of DEYA’s services”. In fact, after the end of this transitional stage, he advocates “for those who cannot adapt to the new data, measures should be provided”.
PED AMTH tries to maneuver and present itself in the eyes of the people of the region as “pro-people”, opposed to the privatization of water, at the same time that it stands without any reservation in favor of the overall business operation of the Municipalities, the reciprocity (pay to have) of the degraded social services, the operation of DEYA with private economic criteria.
It supports the EU and governments’ “self-reliance, economic development and sanitation” guidelines, which have turned water from a social good into a very expensive commodity, which has led to the discrediting of DEWAs through their operation as “Societies Anonyme” with a sole purpose profitability, with successive reductions in staff and means, with a reduction in infrastructure and network renewal projects, with the ever-increasing strain of the people.
Its opposition to government policy is false, since it does not concern its essence, i.e. the adjustment of the operating framework of the domestic market for water, according to the corresponding standards for the liberalized Energy market. That’s why he never said and still doesn’t talk today about the introduction of DEYAP and DEYATH to the Stock Exchange in 1999, about their transfer to the Superfund in 2016 and 2017 under the SYRIZA government, about the water pricing regulation, about the evolution from the previous government of the ND of the RAE into a Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAEW), the new “Super Authority” that will determine and control the tariff policy of the DEYAs, certify them, evaluate their management adequacy, enforce them exorbitant fines.
The “Popular Rally” is categorically opposed to the government’s plans that will lead to a jump in the price of water and other services, to lower quality water, services, projects, they will have very negative results for the needs of the people, but also for the rights of the employees of DEYA.
We oppose the operation of the merger of the DEYAs, which aims to create large-scale enterprises, to speed up and legally shield the implementation of the Community directive on the commercialization of water, the concession of its management to business groups, to the various contractors ensuring even greater profits.
We believe that water is a social right, it cannot be a commodity. We claim the assurance of cheap, tested, quality water for the people, the immediate implementation of the necessary infrastructure projects, that there should be no interruption of water in popular households, the increase of available water reserves with appropriate projects, the assurance of its sufficiency without tolls in the rural production, the drastic reduction of tariffs, the abolition of VAT on the price of water, the hiring of permanent staff with rights, the abolition of contractors.
We demand that the water shortage problem be solved immediately on the island of Thassos and especially in Kallirachi, which last year and in the midst of summer and increased tourist traffic, was left without water for a month. Likewise for the water supply of Philippi in the Municipality of Kavala, which has been suffering from elevated nitrates for years. Radical countermeasures should be taken with a study and new drilling and not “patches” (filters) for the water in DE Pangaio (Nikisiani, Georgiani) which from time to time show increased arsenic values.
Managing water for the benefit of the people presupposes freedom from the laws of the market and capitalist profit. Water, treatment units, networks, irrigation, drainage to become social state property, to satisfy popular needs and protect the environment. In a radically different organization of the economy, with infrastructure and water resources being social property, with central production planning and a single entity managing all infrastructure. In this way, water will be guaranteed as a social good and the combined satisfaction of social needs will be ensured.
4/24/2024
The Municipal Councillors
Alexandroupolis – Second Saturday, Dramanidou Niki
Komotini – Leventis Yiannis
Kavala – Potolias Christos
I’ll – Chrysafis Nikos, Lambrinidis Lambros, Pagoni Evangelia,
Filaretou Argyro, Chondrogiannis Vasileios
