The Greek parliament authorised a debated coastal improvement invoice on Thursday, amid issues from environmentalists and a few politicians, who declare that the regulation poses a menace to the nation’s seashores.
Last week, eight environmental organizations, together with the WWF and Greenpeace, referred to as on parliament to withdraw the invoice that may take away a coastal safety zone designed to restrict seaside building.
The authorities insisted it could be good for business and would defend the setting.
“We have a duty to protect our beaches and at the same time to support the legal tourism businesses that are developing along the coastline and are compatible with the environment,” Finance Minister Harry Theoharis instructed parliament on Thursday.
The purpose of the regulation is to “protect the great richness of the country’s long coastline… 13,676 kilometers (8,500 miles),” he stated.
However, the left-wing opposition celebration Syriza stated the regulation threatened the seashores and would hand them over to “private interests.”
In a joint assertion printed final week, the group of NGOs stated the invoice failed to offer “necessary safeguards and improve the framework for the immediate removal of illegal buildings along the coastline.”
The invoice, which was put ahead by the finance ministry, “is abolishing the already inadequate setback zone of 30 meters (about 100 feet) from the shoreline,” the assertion stated.
“Unfortunately, in Greece, coastal ecosystems are treated as land for housing and tourist development.”
The authorities responded that “improving the management of coastal areas” can be “beneficial to the national economy and environmental protection.”
Illegal building is rampant in Greece the place the constructing trade is among the important sectors of the economic system.
In 2020, the European Court of Justice judged that Greece had violated its obligations beneath EU regulation for not defending a few of its weak ecosystems.
Source: www.dailysabah.com