Mati

As the summer season comes to an end the government is keen to hit the ground running in September and to send the message that it is ready to provide solutions to problems in the daily lives of citizens. 

Returning from his official trip to Paris, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday visited a plot of land in eastern Attica which was recently cleaned of 20,000 tonnes of charred tree trunks and branches, cut down and collected after last year's deadly blaze in the resort town of Mati.

Kostas Arvanitis, the 70-year-old fisherman who saved dozens of people who ran into the sea to escape the deadly wildfires at Mati in eastern Attica last year, was given a state funeral Tuesday in Halandri, northern Athens.

Arvanitis, who died last Saturday after a long battle with cancer, saved at least 70 people. He is survived by his wife and son.

Loukoumakis was only 2 years old when he was discovered in a fire-ravaged home in the east Attica seaside town of Mati after last summer's devastating wildfires, frightened and injured.

A long-delayed clear-up of burned branches and dead wood left behind by last year's catastrophic wildfires in Mati, eastern Attica finally began on Friday. 

Units from Greek contractors GEK Terna, Ellaktor, Metka and Avax dispatched trucks to haul away the wood from a plot of land next to Marathonas Avenue, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Akis Skertsos announced on Friday.

All that was revealed by the Prime Minister about the management of the aftermath of the deadly Mati wildfire highlights the shoddiness and the perpetual inadequacy of the state as well as the cynicism of power.

Residents of a small coastal resort gutted by a deadly wildfire one year ago held a candlelight memorial on the beach late Tuesday in memory of the 102 people killed by the blaze near Athens. Survivors and well-wishers released floating candles into the sea hours after religious services were held at Orthodox Churches across the area.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas has confirmed a series of measure to help people who suffered injuries and lost their homes in last summer's deadly wildfires in east Attica, confirming pledges made on Monday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who attended a memorial service in the seaside town of Mati on Tuesday, the anniversary of the event.

A photojournalist holds a picture he took a year ago showing a woman walking in front of burnt cars after the deadly forest fire in Mati, east of Athens on July 24, 2018, as a man walks with his bicycle at the same location. A year after the deadly fire, Mati remains a ghost village. [Yannis Kolesidis, EPA]

Following a visit to Greece's main healthcare provider, EOPYY on Monday, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he would do everything possible to ensure that burns victims from last year's disastrous fires in Mati, eastern Attica, receive the free treatment that they deserve.

The visit followed reports that EOPYY did not have the pharmaceuticals required by burns victims from Mati.