Thanassis Papachristopoulos, lawmaker from SYRIZA’s junior coalition partner Independent Greeks (ANEL) claimed on Thuesday:
“Beacuse I have a problem with my foot, I went for a swim in Voula. I saw no oil spill.”
Papachristoupolos made his statement while he was addressing the Greek Parliament. And while Health authorities warn citizens to avoid swimming along the Athens Riviera.
He is a dermatologist by profession.
Of course, the coastline of Voula is long some 4-5 kilometers from beginning of the municipality boundaries to Glyfada until the Voula Beach -which is closed and abandoned several years ago.
For sure, the government lawmaker did not go for a swim in the sea next to the end station of the Tram and not on Sunday.
Pictures shot 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept 17 2017
No strong north winds were recorded, consequently the oily film must be still there.
Otherwise, he would have smelled the fuel oil, at least.
In all third-world countries government officials come out some after ecological disasters and are pictured drinking tea, eating chicken, swallowing fish and I don;t know what else…
Sadly, Papachristopoulos did not shoot a selfie to prove his claim.
Meanwhile,in Gyfada – next door, so to say -, Mayor Giorgos Papanikolaou uploaded a video he had a diver to shoot 100 meters from the 1. Beach of Glyfada.
It’s not a mysterious green planet with shooting comets. It’s the bottom of the sea with crumbles of tar floating out of control. What is not floating has sank to the bottom.
A specialists team sent by the Port of Rotterdam, NL, to Greece to help with advice with regards to the clean up of oil spill pollution, had encouraging conclusions. “Very good work has been done” and Alimos Beach on the Athens Riviera can be turned over for use by the public in just four days,” the Rotterdam officials said according to amna.gr.
In fact, they added, if the special equipment had existed the beach could be cleaned up in just one day.
The foreign port officials were invited by Athens mayor Giorgos Kaminis and Alimos mayor Andreas Kondylis to offer their services and assist in the battle against the widespread pollution caused by the sinking of the tanker “Agia Zoni II’ near Salamina.
By Monday, Sept 18, i.e a week after the shipwreck, at least 1,500 cubic meters of oil has been pumped out of the sunken tanker “Agia Zoni II” so far, the shipping ministry said.
However, a Prime Ministerial decision issued after the shiwreck to cancel ‘temporary extensions’ of seaworthiness, causes new problems.
The Lassea tanker which pumps fuel oil from the sunken Agia Zoni II had its security certificates expired. It remained unclear whether the 42-year-old vessel would be granted a temporary extension for the fuel transfer to be completed or whether another vessel would take over.
A week after the shipwreck and the reasons for the sinking are still not known.
The owner of Agia Zoni II told media, he had not idea how and why his tanker sank. He blamed passenger ferry Blue Star Patmos for the pollution. The ferry, ran aground off the island of Ios on 30. August. It was towed to the port of Piraeus and “had suffered a fuel leak near the port of Piraeus last week. The amount of fuel it lost is believed to be a fraction of that emitted by the Agia Zoni II.”
Fish consumption in Athens and Piraeus has drastically dropped, fishermen complain that there is no official guidelines where to go fishing or not in the Saronic Gulf.
Sure he didn’t see any oil spill in his swimming pool! Invite us over and we won’t see any oil either except Bain de solie