Symi Euro Page 3

Symi Population? Page 6

Do Greeks Read? Page 10

Holidays 2002 Page 13

The last two winters the rest of Europe shivered and squelched while Greece remained relatively dry and mild.  This winter has, so far,  provided the country with all the bad weather it missed in previous years plus some extra for good measure.  Heavy snowfalls in northern Greece pushed Afghanistan off the front pages of the Greek press and floods in Patras dominated television bulletins, along with blizzards, derailments, power cuts and various other weather-related disasters.  Nearly 120 people had to be rescued by the army from a snowbound train in northern Greece, only to have to be rescued a second time when the train to which they had been transferred derailed three carriages.  They were trapped in two metres of snow for nearly a day, in temperatures of minus 10 and worse, with no form of heating.  Airports and ports have been closed at various times due to extreme conditions, which, combined with road closures due to snowfalls have made travel and delivery of goods very difficult.  That rugged terrain which makes for Greece's spectacular scenery is a serious disadvantage in a bad winter like this one.

Symi has been spared much of this, except for the rain.  Rain from drizzle to downpours.  In the period from 26 October 2001 to 23 December 2001 more than 500 millimetres of rain has been recorded at the head of the Pedi valley.  This does not include what was not measured when the gauge overflowed.  The average annual rainfall for Rhodes is 535 millimetres with 85mm on average in November and 155mm in December, which gives an indication of just how exceptional this winter's rainfall on Symi is.  The Agia Marina river has come down in spate four times so far this winter and other seasonal water courses have flowed heavily.  If the original reservoir plan had been implemented, it would certainly be full now. (See Town Hall news)

The trail of mud and stones down the roads and lanes tells its own story. Erosion has caused serious loss of  topsoil from the terraces and Pedi Bay has a clearly visible layer of silt overlying the weeds in the shallows.  While the island was desperately in need of rain, the torrents have brought other problems.  Aside from the obvious erosion issue, leaching of minerals from the soil is also a consideration and many of the seeds that form an essential part of winter and spring grazing have been washed away before they had the chance to germinate.  Trees, on the other hand, have benefited, particularly the citrus trees which thrive in high humidity. The Kali  Strata is green with moss.  The white-washed houses are streaked with mould and the colours are dulled by damp.  There is not a door or wooden shutter on the island that still opens and closes without force.  The all-pervading moisture seeps through old stone walls with no trouble at all, following any channels it can find.  Water weeps from power points and light fittings and leaches sulphurous salts from plasterwork.  Grass sprouts from gutters and cornices.  The run up to Easter should see a frenzy of redecoration as the house-proud Symiots set the place rights.  And, with so much ground water, the island should remain green well into the tourist season.

LAND REGISTRY

Owners of property on Symi will remember the land registration exercise which they were obliged to perform two years ago.  What they probably didn't know at the time was that this was a 75% EU funded scheme billed by the then public works minister, Costas Lakotis, as 'the flagship of Greece's public works program'.  Since then the flagship seems in danger of foundering and certainly seems to have lost some of its crew, as corruption and fraud charges have been filed against the entire board of the company handling the project and top officials in two contracting companies.  As only about a quarter of the work has been completed and the budget has doubled, Brussels is seeking the return of about 57 million Euros which the EU Regional Policy Commissioner, Michael Barnier, says was misspent on the project.

The immediate implications of this would be the withholding of further EU funds promised to the Public Works Ministry.  The new Public Works Minister, Vasso Papandreou, claims that the EU's objections are not sufficiently documented from a legal point of view and that there is hope that some deal will be made.  However, one of her first acts as minister was to sack the entire Land registry board.

SYMI:  A CASE FOR ANIMAL ACTIVISTS?

The Symi Visitor occasionally receives reports of ill-treatment of animals from concerned visitors.  While we do not dispute that not all domestic animals are as well cared for as one might wish, or as would be the case, perhaps, in western Europe, the picture is certainly not as bleak as might be supposed.  It is essential to bear in mind that not all animals in other parts of Europe are living in ideal conditions either,  it is just that as Symi is a small place and visitors to the island mix freely within the community, any shortcomings seem to be more obvious.

Cont...page 10 col 1
 

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