MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ORDER
PRESS OFFICE
PRESS OFFICE
Athens, 05/9/2007
PRESS RELEASE
Countries with great experience in the extinction of forest fires, such as the US, Australia, France and Cyprus have suggested to send an experts mission in Greece, within the framework of the assistance for the restoration of the environment and the overall management of the regions burned at the recent tragic fires. The Government will accept and utilize the offer of these countries and will proceed-after the elections- in a thorough examination of the scientific data presented for the most effective restoration of the natural environment in the burned areas.
The expertise of the countries with great experience in forest fires extinction will be utilized on a more permanent basis in regards to the methods and the means of fire extinction. Against the wider challenges that we are dealing with, the Government intends to convene an International Committee which will examine, will combine and will codify operations and ways of implementation of the countries equipped with the this expertise.
The Committee will be called upon to take under consideration the current needs of fire extinction, especially the new data on massive events (the extent of the destruction, the intensity and the weather condition, the draught, the temperature, winds etc) that emerge as a result of the climatic changes.
Finally, the proposal by the Greek Prime Minister to the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and to the President of the Commission Manuel Barrose for the formation of a unified and common European Organization of the fire extinction covering at the first the needs of the Mediterranean Countries of South-eastern Europe is deemed as current and worth of the implementation.
The Minister of Public Order along with the competent Ministers will undertake the forwarding of the procedures for the materialization of the Greek Prime Minister ´s proposal as soon as possible.
