Statement from Greek parliamentarian on aerosol spraying
Wednesday, 17.01.12
Kostas Kollias: “Evasiveness and inadequate answers from ministries on aerial spraying”
The Ministry of Infrastructures, Transport and Networks has sent a reply to the report submitted by the parliamentarian for Corinthia Kostas Kollias on the subject of the complaints made by the newspaper ‘Voice of Corinthia’ about aerial spraying with dangerous chemical substances in our prefecture. In this connection Mr. Kollias stated:
“With a delay of many months I received a reply to the report I submitted, in which I communicated through the Parliament to the Ministry of the Environment articles published in our local newspaper ‘Voice of Corinthia’ complaining of suspicious aerial spraying over our prefecture.
My first comment is that the Ministry of the Environment, to which I initially addressed the report, declared itself incompetent and referred the document to the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of the Environment clearly considers that it has no responsibility for substances which, according to the press reportage, have been detected in the atmosphere. I regard this as evasiveness on the part of the Ministry and, unfortunately, it leaves unanswered the question of whether or not there are chemical substances, if so what they are and whether they are dangerous to public health.
The Ministry of Transport, by contrast, replies as the body with political responsibility for matters pertaining to civil aviation. As such, it is not competent for monitoring the substances that are being used, nor for responding to inquiries as to the methods that might be used to detect possible spraying of chemicals. What it is able to affirm is that spraying is being conducted for specific purposes – for combating mosquito infestation, for protection from hail, for extinguishing fires. Beyond these instances, the Civil Aviation Authority declares that it “is not aware of any actual data or relevant information and no aircraft of ‘unknown identity’ have been recorded by the air traffic control services.”
It is obvious that when we speak of aircraft of unknown identity we do not mean that they are not known to the Civil Aviation Authority. What we mean is that it does not inform citizens about them. There are huge numbers of complaints about aircraft, which of course must be flying with the permission of the Civil Aviation Authority, but are also without marks of identification. Three questions remain unanswered: are there other state or supervisory authorities that are organizing aerial spraying, if so for what reason and with what substances?
The voices insisting on the existence of spraying are growing more numerous every day. And we are not referring only to concerned and observant citizens. We are referring to respected scientists, working in great centres of scientific research, both in our country and abroad. There are scientists who confirm the presence of metals and chemicals in the atmosphere. There are specialists who attribute the spraying to an attempt to control the climate in response to climate change and the greenhouse phenomenon.
The skepticism of many citizens is not attributable either to lack of education or to conspiracy stories. It is a product of the lack of official information in response to complaints concerning the existence of dangerous substances in the atmosphere. I consider that the only response that can provide reassurance will be one from official bodies, who must be assigned the task of investigating the more serious and best documented complaints, so that citizens, both in Corinthia and elsewhere, may be convinced that their health is being safeguarded.”
Konstantinos Kollias, Korinthia ND MP