2023-12-08 11:05:37
On the air the “hosts” of the structure in Piraeus ● “Social racism has won” say the workers of OKANA ● “This extremely positive development first of all vindicates the residents for the “battle” they fought in the last nine months” said Yannis Moralis
The OKANA unit on 62 Aitolikou Street in the 5th Municipal Community of Piraeus (Maniatika), whose operation had caused strong protests by the residents of the area but also by the municipal authority and the opposition, has suspended its operation. The news was announced by the mayor of Piraeus, Yiannis Moralis, characterizing the development as “extremely positive”, which, as he said, first of all vindicates the residents for the “battle” they have waged in the last nine months, the Municipal Authority which from the first moment she stood by them and gave her own fight for the closure of the structure, but also the city of Piraeus.
He spoke of a “correct decision” since it was clear from the beginning that OKANA in the 5th Municipal Community was operating illegally, as the three basic operating conditions of the structure were not met: There are six to seven schools very close to the OKANA branch, Aitolikou is the second most commercial street of the 5th Municipal Community and there was never a “square” of addicts in the area. In addition, it did not have an operating license and did not even have a fire protection certificate. Finally, he reminded that in the Municipal Council as well as in the Regional Council there were unanimous decisions to shut down the operation of the structure and transfer it elsewhere. However, he clarified that they consider such a structure necessary in the wider Region of Piraeus, but on the condition that it opens and operates legally, with rules and with cooperation and not arbitrarily, as was done in this particular case.
The municipal faction “Change Piraeus for All” led by George Gavrilis described the suspension of the structure as a “positive development”, stressing that this is primarily credited to the mobilization of the residents, who for almost a year documented and without stigmatizing or phobic logic they demanded that the conditions that OKANA himself had set for the siting of the structure be respected. Finally, he stated that “especially now that the rampage of neoliberal politicians is leading to the shrinking and privatization of public structures for prevention and psychosocial rehabilitation in addictions and mental health, the municipal authority must take initiatives to reposition the structure and create addiction prevention center in the wider area of Piraeus”.
Bitterness
On the opposite side are the feelings of OKANA executives, who told “Ef.Syn.”: “We are bitter and disappointed. We feel the rejection of hundreds of people who have no fate in the sun and are left stranded, even though we had the money, the structure and the know-how to help them. How do all of them feel now that – in view of winter and holidays – dozens of our suffering fellow human beings, homeless, with addiction problems, alcoholics, abused women and the elderly, will be left on the street helpless?”
The structure could support the overnight stay of 25 people, while in recent months the beneficiaries have been a few hundred, according to OKANA. An abused woman and her child were forced to be transferred to an open structure of the organization in Athens, which however accommodates people with many functional problems due to addictions. Some were taken to a facility in Ilion, while others left without anyone knowing their fate. The Piraeus Diocese declares that it has no place to host these people.
“Once again social racism and fear-mongering rhetoric have won,” says the OKANA workers’ association in a statement, denouncing the government, the prime minister personally, the mayor of Piraeus, but also the administration of the organization which “succumbed to his pressures Ministry of Health”.
OKANA claims that the structure is not closed because there was a legal obstacle, that it had a normal operating license (with a document from the Ministry of Health) as well as a submitted fire protection study, but because it was decided to terminate its operation by the administrative authority of the Region. According to OKANA executives in “Ef.Syn.”, “its closure was orchestrated by political pressure due to the reaction of the local community. There was no drug use in the area around the clean unit, nor of course was any substitute program implemented. We even provided an official document from the Police assuring that no criminal act had been committed during the entire period of its operation. In Piraeus, it seems that they choose to bury the problems, but look at who they are.”
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