Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday pledged to reverse controversial legislation passed by Parliament on Tuesday and “cancel all intentions, all thoughts” of privatising water, in a meeting held in Parliament with environmental organisations and trade unionists of the Athens and Thessaloniki water companies, EYDAP and EYATh, respectively.
“A progressive government with SYRIZA at its core will cancel the Regulatory Authority voted for in Parliament yesterday and chiefly it will cancel all intentions, all thoughts of privatising the public good that is called water,” Tsipras said, adding that on Wednesday, on World Water Day, the time had come to say “enough, no more, the privatisation of water will not be accepted.”
The main opposition leader was sternly critical of the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing him of “cover-ups and hypocrisy”, and saying that his interview on Tuesday again attempted to conceal his intentions and to claim that the bill was not the precursor of a privatisation process, even though he has spoken openly of this in the past on camera. “He had spoken clearly, he had said that his intention, his goal, was the privatisation of water and the first step toward implementing this goal was to create a Regulatory Authority, which happened yesterday,” Tsipras said.
Regarding the prime minister’s claim that the authority was a requirement set by the Recovery Fund, the main opposition leader said that Mitsotakis had himself decided what the Fund’s prerequisites would be.
Tsipras concluded by saying that the attempt to create profit through privatisation, “as we now see in a tragic way”, is dangerous for society and safety, citing the decline of Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) as an example. “In 2019, in the midst of memorandums, we left it with 1,200 permanent employees and today it has 700,” he pointed out, asserting that this was done to aid in the privatisation of rail services and make it cheaper and more “attractive” to prospective investors.
“Citizens, however, pay more for the services and have less safety. The same will happen with water, if it is privatised the citizens will pay more for it but the standards of health and safety will be much lower,” Tsipras said.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
