Thousands of households in northern Athens remain without electricity on Wednesday evening for second consecutive day following snow weather Medea. Parallel to the efforts to restore power, the good old Greek “blame game” is ongoing between the grid operator, the municipalities and the regional government of Attica. The word “responsibility” comes and goes like a ping pong ball.
Grid operator DEDDIE blames municipalities for not having pruned trees, keeping the streets open for its crews to drive through.
Municipalities blame DEDDIE for poor cable maintenance.
The federation of Public Power Company workers blames the Civil Protection for being late to declare state of emergency in Athens municipalities and the Attica Regional Government for being late to clear streets from snow.
At the same time, they all blame Medea that brought a lot of snow on trees that fell on power polls triggering power outages to a total of 70,000 households in northern Athens. Problem is though that they cannot agree on the number of trees that fell. yesterday they claimed it was 600, Wednesday morning 700, Wednesday noon 800.
Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis posted pictures form Dionysos suburb justifying the delays in restoring electricity.
Για να καταλάβουμε το μέγεθος της δυσκολίας αποκαταστάσεως των ζημιών και της βλάβης στο δίκτυο στα Β Προάστεια σας δείχνω μερικές εικόνες που μου έστειλε αποκλεισμένος στον Διόνυσο φίλος από τους κεντρικούς δρόμους γύρω από το σπιτι του. Όχι από δρομάκια αλλά από τους μεγάλους pic.twitter.com/SwPVOqVZSV
— Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης (@AdonisGeorgiadi) February 17, 2021
Fact is that nobody knows how many trees fell.
Fact is also that power has been restored to 38,000 households by Wednesday afternoon.
People in the remaining 32,000 sit in cold homes for second consecutive day, many also without water and some even without internet.
Some are vulnerable groups and in desperate need of electricity.
Some locals like a resident in Drosia decided to move to relatives in suburbs without problems until their probelm is solved.
Nearly 38,000 households and businesses have had their power restored as of Wednesday afternoon, the power distribution network operator DEDDIE said on Wednesday.
The areas still being worked on, where 16 medium-voltage power lines are being restored include the following: Dionyssos, Agios Stefanos, Maroussi, Nea Ionia, Neo Psychiko, Paleo Psychiko, Filothei, Papagou, Petroupoli, Kefalari, Politia, Pefki, Vrilissia, Glyka Nera, Kato Kifissia, Ekali and Nea Erythrea.
In addition, power is gradually being restored in 8 villages of central Evia island, and will be in full operation by Wednesday night, DEDDIE said. Yesterday telecommunications were restored in basic central lines and the main municipal network in central Evia, while roads were still being cleared in mountain settlements.
He said that 440 teams were underway fixing the problems.
Head of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias said at 6 pm that 90% of the power problems will be restored by Wednesday midnight.
The grid operation has also said that power is gradually being restored in 8 villages of central Evia island, and will be in full operation by Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, two elderly residents in Evia villages died after their oxygen supplying devices stopped working due to the power outages.
As expected, Greece’s opposition parties sharply criticize the government for failing to take appropriate measures ahead of the snow weather even though meteorologists had warned several days in advance.
PS As a friend said: Blame game is the Greeks’ national hobby
The “blame game” is common in many european countries nowadays! The word responsibility has lost its meaning!
As a friend of mine said: If you dont do anything, at least you dont do anything wrong and cant be blamed….