Environment Ministry

Nearly a year after disastrous wildfires ravaged eastern Attica, killing 103 people, Greek authorities have drafted a plan aimed at curbing the unchecked construction in the area that allowed the blazes to spread so quickly and protecting coastal settlements.

Relations between the government and the operator of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) could reach breaking point just weeks before the general election as an informal meeting between OLP and members of the Port Planning and Development Commission last Friday not only failed to resolve the problems for the implementation of Cosco's investment but probably generated new ones too.

The Environment Ministry launched on Thursday the 2nd edition of the Rabla programme for household appliances, a scrapping programme for which the Government has earmarked 40 million lei this year, twice compared to last year, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated.

People who suffered property damage during last year's deadly fires in eastern Attica staged a rally outside the Environment Ministry on Thursday, protesting what they described as the state's indifference to their plight. [Pantelis Saitas/ANA-MPA] 

A group of residents from Mati, a coastal town in eastern Attica that was completely destroyed in a deadly fire last summer, gathered outside the Environment Ministry on Thursday to protest the delays in the restoration of the damages.

Greece's Culture Ministry has revoked the building permit for a controversial nine-story structure that is under construction near the Acropolis in the district of Koukaki, amid protests that the building mars the view of the Parthenon.

Greece's Central Archaeological Council (KAS), the country's top advisory body on the protection of antiquities, has postponed a ruling on the legality of a recently-constructed 10-floor hotel in the central Athens district of Makriyianni which local residents say obstructs their view of the Parthenon.

The legalization of private structures located in archaeological and historic sites, as well as areas close to monuments, will be made easier according to the provisions of a bill submitted to Parliament by the Environment Ministry.

A ministerial decree approving the environmental reports for hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation west and southwest of Greece's island of Crete was signed on Tuesday by the Environment Ministry.

The Government has encouraged the purchase of new, less polluting cars, through the car park renewal programmes carried out by the Environment Ministry, PM Viorica Dancila said on Monday in the opening of the 2019 European Automotive Industry Forum in Craiova. "Clean technology represents the future.