Minoa Pediada municipality and quake survivors’ group urge changes to Greece’s disaster-housing bill

The Municipality of Minoa Pediada and the earthquake survivors’ association “Elpida” (Hope) have submitted a joint memorandum to a parliamentary committee reviewing a draft law from Greece’s Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection on a new framework for housing aid after natural disasters, citing unresolved problems nearly five years after the September 27, 2021 earthquake that struck Arkalochori.

In the memorandum, the two bodies said the bill’s effectiveness “will be judged in practice” by the content of the ministerial decisions that follow it. “The new bill is an opportunity to correct problems that the experience of Arkalochori has highlighted most clearly,” the memorandum said, adding that a new framework must also resolve the situation of people who “almost five years after the earthquake of September 27, 2021, are still waiting for the recovery to be completed.”

The memorandum asked for the bill’s transitional provisions to cover all pending cases from the Arkalochori earthquake, alongside a new model for handling natural disasters based on immediate first aid, damage certification, fair compensation, owner and engineer responsibility for repairs, effective state oversight, a single coordinator, one recovery plan and a clear timetable.

Specific requests

The mayor of Minoa Pediada and the president of “Elpida” said the municipality needs immediate funding to repair infrastructure, school and municipal buildings, roads and public spaces, and to carry out necessary demolitions. Among their requests: allowing all pending 2021 earthquake case files to fall under the new framework; a new deadline for submitting initial applications; a new deadline for entering the per-square-metre compensation process; genuine implementation of that compensation; separating earthquake recovery from unrelated urban-planning issues; full and adequate housing aid; review of about 300 pending requests for household-equipment aid; greater responsibility for private engineers; resolution of co-ownership disputes; and the staffing and reorganisation of the ΤΑΕΦΚ, the state agency handling earthquake-affected areas, together with clear, binding deadlines.

The two bodies also called for broader institutional measures covering the whole affected area, not only housing aid, including the appointment of a recovery coordinator, a mandatory recovery plan, absolute priority for schools and children’s facilities, temporary housing until real recovery is achieved, adequate staffing and specialised support, a plan for economic and social recovery, first aid for every actual case of damage, the ability for citizens to submit their own initial application, and protection of insurance compensation.

Mayor: “Something has to change”

Responding to questions from committee members, the mayor of Minoa Pediada addressed issues around auctions, demolitions and recovery procedures, saying the experience in Arkalochori shows the state needs to fundamentally change how it handles natural disasters. He said an integrated model is needed that combines prevention, immediate response, recovery and the area’s economic and social rehabilitation.

He also pointed to the need to simplify procedures, saying bureaucracy and complexity remain major obstacles to recovery and that additional staffing alone is not enough without simplifying the institutional framework. He repeated a proposal to create a register of engineers, with specific criteria per technical chamber office or department, to provide an organised network of assessors and inspectors that could be activated immediately after any natural disaster.

On the fast-track, per-square-metre compensation scheme for “yellow” buildings without structural damage, the mayor said the measure’s effectiveness is undermined when additional conditions limit its use in practice. “It is notable that the procedure is foreseen only under specific conditions, such as not using scaffolding. But is there a building repair that doesn’t need scaffolding? If the conditions effectively cancel out the measure, then its goal is not achieved,” he said.

The mayor presented figures on the current state of the area five years after the earthquake. Of about 8,500 properties inspected, roughly 3,500 buildings were classified “yellow” and about 750 “red.” He compared the situation to the 1999 Athens earthquake, when twelve ΤΑΕΦΚ offices operated for about 6,500 affected buildings, while Minoa Pediada has had, in practice, a single, understaffed ΤΑΕΦΚ office. Of the roughly 3,500 “yellow” buildings, about 600 have so far been licensed for repair, around 160 families are still living in temporary housing units, and students at three schools continue to attend classes in prefabricated classrooms.

The mayor said the municipality has lost about €650,000 in revenue from exempting earthquake-affected buildings from municipal fees and taxes, and said the state should take into account and offset the impact of such exemptions on affected municipalities’ budgets, noting that Greece’s state housing aid framework has also been triggered for other disasters, such as wildfire-hit areas in Rethymno.

He also asked that earthquake survivors who wish to do so be allowed to move their temporary housing unit onto their own property, to reduce costs and shorten the prolonged period of temporary living.

“If the ministerial decisions include obstacles similar to those placed on the fast-track, per-square-metre compensation process, I’m afraid we will be discussing a new bill again in a year and saying the same things,” the mayor said, closing his remarks.