According to the Federation, POMIDA has timely called on landowners across the country to clean their plots and, through an announcement, has briefly informed them about their relevant obligations. However, citizens do indeed respond to their obligations with great effort and often high costs when what is being requested is feasible and achievable. They cannot comply when what is being requested is impossible, as is the case here.
The deadline for cleaning and submitting declarations by April 30, 2025, is realistically unfeasible and unworkable, considering the Easter holidays intervene and the month is, in practice, very short and tight, especially for citizens with properties far from their place of residence. Under these conditions of high demand created by the tight monthly deadline, the result is that property owners either cannot find a crew to clean their plots on time or, if they do, they fall victim to exploitation, being forced to pay outrageous amounts for the cleaning.
Furthermore, when in addition to cleaning their plots, property owners are required to collect the biomass from the cleaning, they are burdened with the additional responsibility and costs of finding crews with cranes, trucks, etc., and securing a place for the collection and disposal of the biomass. These responsibilities should fall on the municipalities, as only they can handle them. It is unrealistic for the state to expect citizens to take on such impossible tasks.
In light of these issues and the problems that arose during last year’s cleaning declaration period, the current monthly deadline is inadequate and unrealistic. The impending expiration of the deadline will likely discourage citizens from taking any further action or trying to meet their obligations. Last year, following a request for an extension from POMIDA, the then Minister Mr. Vasilis Kikilias granted an extension, with the final deadline for submitting the responsible statement set as July 15, 2024. Given this, we request the following legislative action:
The period for cleaning the plots and submitting the responsible declarations on the relevant platform should be defined by law as a three-month period, from April 1 to June 30 each year, so that the deadline is realistic and the cleaning and submission of the relevant declarations are truly feasible. This will eliminate the need for repeated extensions and avoid the financial strain on property owners.
It should be explicitly stated in the law that municipalities are the sole responsible parties for collecting the biomass from the cleaning of plots. Furthermore, the responsible statement in the "National Registry" (platform "Uncleaned Plots") should be converted into a simple responsible statement punishable according to paragraph 6 of article 22 of Law 1599/1986, so that there are no excessive and harsh criminal consequences if the statement is considered inaccurate. Given the strict provisions of the new Penal Code, the required individual will be called upon to declare responsibly that, in addition to the cleaning, they will also maintain the plot throughout the fire prevention period. In many cases, this will be practically impossible to comply with, and given the severe consequences of false or inaccurate declarations, there is a significant risk of criminal conviction and imprisonment for citizens.
It should also be stipulated that the unacceptable fine of €1,000 or any criminal prosecution should not be imposed without prior written individual notification to each property owner from the relevant municipality regarding their obligation. Finally, the cleaning declaration platform should allow for corrections to electronic declarations, add a notes field, and remove the option for anonymous complaints.
