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During the 17th Regular Session of the City Council, Athenians Mayor Haris Doukas addressed the pressing issue of the presence of drug-dependent individuals in the city center. He also discussed the recent attack on a member of the Cleaning Department and the urgent need for immediate measures to ensure public health and safety.
Below is the full text of Mayor Doukas’ statement:
“We are called to tackle a critical public health and safety issue, both for the drug-dependent individuals themselves and for the residents and visitors in areas of the city center that often function as drug hotspots.
The problem is real, complex, and demands coordinated actions. It cannot be solved with quick fixes overnight. There are no magical solutions.
We are all well aware that a criminal network of traffickers operates around our drug-dependent fellow citizens. It is our duty to do everything within our capacity to protect the functioning of the city while also nurturing these individuals with respect and dignity.
That is why we have consistently stated a clear message: We will not allow downtown Athens to turn into a warehouse for souls and experience ghettoization.
From the outset, we pressed in this direction. A multi-ministerial coordinating body was established, we signed a cooperation memorandum with the Greek Police, and we enhanced streetwork initiatives and our social workers. Our pressure for this issue has been, and will continue to be, relentless. In just one year and seven months, we have accomplished more than what was requested of us, at times exceeding our responsibilities. We have not shied away from our duties; we have taken them on and continue to do so.
Today, the multi-ministerial committee convened again to discuss this issue. We presented specific proposals, including short-term interventions for providing medical care, social support, and reintegration, along with medium-term plans aiming to remove all drug-dependent individuals from the neighborhoods of Athens.
We all understand that our city cannot afford to lose a single moment. The recent knife attack on workers from the Green Department was the breaking point. However, let’s be clear: certain factions do not want this problem to be resolved. The very issue they have created and tolerated for years. The shameful images on Ierotheou Street and surrounding areas have a name. They are the creation of Mr. Bakoyannis and his faction.
We await the government proposal and will respond comprehensively once it is publicized. However, I want to clarify one thing: the center of Athens will not, under any circumstances, bear the burden of new support structures. The main focus must be a gradual decentralization of existing structures to ensure an equitable distribution of public services throughout Attica.
I remind you that we highlighted these issues just days ago in a comprehensive plan that we had voted for. Not everyone agreed. However, our faction, which is not responsible for this situation, supported and continues to support it. Until we can achieve the gradual decentralization of existing structures and create the necessary interventions, recent developments – particularly following the shocking new attack on a sanitation worker – compel us to design additional security measures to protect our municipal employees.”
Proposed Measures
Subsequently, Mr. Doukas stated:
“I propose that we are in a position to implement specific measures immediately:
All waste collection vehicles will be equipped with an emergency device – a panic button to be pressed in cases of accidents, breakdowns, obstacles, or attacks, allowing for immediate immobilization and activation of a protection and intervention mechanism.
We have already developed an application called SafeAthens. We will run a special campaign to encourage all our streetworking municipal employees to download it. With the press of a button, both the Municipal Police and the Greek Police will be notified, an alarm can be activated, and geolocation is available.
Additionally, we will map the most dangerous areas and seek to increase mixed patrols of municipal and Greek police during the daytime, while requesting support from the Greek Police during nighttime hours. The health and safety of our employees are non-negotiable.
We are working in close collaboration as a municipality and continuously consulting with employee unions and the Health and Safety Committee to identify hazards, improve working conditions, and create an environment that respects and protects human life.
Safety is not merely a duty; it is the least recognition we owe to those who keep our city standing.
At this point, I want to add something else. Indeed, these distressing and shocking images, such as the one we all saw regarding the sanitation worker, do not reflect democracy. We must not foster a toxic atmosphere toward those individuals who, under extremely difficult conditions – heat, cold, and night – give their best. We must avoid inciting this atmosphere.
I state this because, for a long time now, social media platforms and their trolls have been systematically targeting the sanitation workers and personnel of the City of Athens.
And I must say, Mr. Bakoyannis, that the timing of your announcement was entirely inappropriate. After such an attack on a sanitation worker, you claim that the Interior Ministry’s cleanliness ratings are poor?
Is this really how we help mitigate the tension and toxicity faced by these workers? Such comments do not even come from your trolls.
And let me add another point:
Mr. Bakoyannis, the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece, of which you are a member, issued a statement denouncing this evaluation as unacceptable because it lacks scientific basis, as it rates municipal policing highly in municipalities without such departments, and rates urban planning as excellent in municipalities lacking these services, leading their residents to our own. And many more absurdities.
And today, you used this evaluation, which KEDKE labeled unacceptable, to “attack” the sanitation workers. We need to be serious and assist our city in moving forward. We recognize our responsibilities; you must too.