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A series of immediate measures for the safety of visitors to the area known as “Navagio” or “Shipwreck”. The new municipal authority want to take action immediately, so yesterday morning the first meeting convened by Mr Nikitas Aretakis as mayor concerned the next moves to be made in within the area.
Representatives of the Police (D. Angelopoulos), the Fire Service (I. Panopoulos), the Holy Metropolis (A. Retsis) and the Forestry Service (D. Skaltsoyannis) were invited and attended, while the new Deputy Mayor of Elation area, the Vice Mayor of Zakynthos and Deputy Mayor and Head of Waste Management, Dimitris Koutsogiannis, the Head of the Technical Services, Dionysis Turkakis and representative of the “Zakynthos – Overturn – Renaissance” political municipal organization.
Mr. Aretakis stressed in his initial posting that the area should be open and accessible to visitors. He stressed that irrespective of the ownership status, which the Greek judiciary will decide, measures should be taken to ensure the safety of visitors. “Our island is being discredited by the current situation. Visitors hang like grapevines from the rocks, and we must take measures to prevent a world-wide viewing site from becoming a place of martyrdom, ”Mr. Aretakis said.
The proposal of the Mayor
As the Mayor said, the purpose of the meeting was to hear from all those present about the measures that can be taken, both immediately and in the long term. He presented them with his proposal, which included guarding and informing visitors as they were unaware of the danger. Setting up a parking area and transporting tourists by bus to the platform. Banning access to the flag area which is on the crevice of the cliff and placing toilets and benches. The Mayor told them that these are measures that can be taken immediately.
Before leaving the meeting, Dimitris Skaltsogiannis, the Head of the Forestry Department, said he was aware of the mayor’s views, which also come from the Holy Metropolis. However, he was under the impression that he had closed the roads to the shipwreck – reminded him that his department, before a decision by the City Council, to ban traffic leading to the platform, had sent a letter requesting a series of measures to protect visitors.
“The forest road that begins near the Holy Monastery of Saint George of Kremnos and ends in a dead end on the plateau of the wreckage was originally constructed by the Forest Service (category C) for fire and traffic protection purposes. This road was paved by the former Prefecture of Zakynthos (according to testimony) without notification to our Service and approval of intervention, possibly without a study of works. However, it receives a large number of visitors without meeting safety requirements (slopes, pavement width, maneuverability curves, etc.) with the potential for the risk of vehicles slipping or in the event of a forest fire, traffic congestion and trapping. We propose that traffic must be stopped by a decision of the Municipal Authority. To serve the visitors within the area by municipal public transport. In order for tourists to view and photograph the Shipwreck Beach. They are forced to stand on the edge of the cliff with the risk of falling and being injured, either by stumbling, by pushing, by pathological causes, or even by the detachment of loose rocks and so on. For this reason the following accident prevention measures are proposed: a) Fencing of the site and b) Construction of a shipwreck viewing platform. Because these measures require a study for their construction and the cost is quite high, until the completion of the above works, it is immediately suggested that Zakynthos Municipality be given warning signs indicating the risk of an accident by the visitors themselves or by rock removal, and that approaching the cliff is at their responsibility. Given the large amount of traffic within the area, we draw your attention to immediate accident prevention measures, because otherwise there is a risk of being liable for accidents. ”
The Forestry Department also told the Mayor that because this is a forest and land that is forested, he should apply for an intervention permit. The Mayor emphasized that immediate action needs to be taken to ensure the safety of visitors, and bureaucratic procedures will be launched in the near future, either for the construction of a new road or for other types of interventions. Tension grew after reports of ownership status and the location by the Monastery’s spokesperson, Lawyer Andreas Rennesis, which led to the Forestry Commission representative leaving the meeting. It should be noted that the representative of the Monastery maintained a positive attitude towards security measures and traffic management in the area.
Fire safety in the foreground!
The Commander of the Fire Department, Mr. Ioannis Panopoulos, who mentioned to the Mayor the safety measures taken by his department. As expected at the meeting, the question of the fire that recently broke out at the Recycling Plant was discussed. The Commander reporting that it was a difficult incident, as there was a fuel depot and a three-phase power supply in the area, while they had to try and contain the fire so as not to cause greater damage to the interior of the building, where the baler was also located.
Also discussed were a number of measures to be taken in Liva (firefighting zones, containers, watchtower, patrol vehicles, etc.). Among other things, special reference was made to the important role played by volunteer fire and fire fighting teams, with Mr. Aretakis and the Commander of the Fire Department agreeing on the need for new groups to be formed in the mountains of Zakynthos.
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