The Ombudsman in Corfu: He came, he saw…but didn’t conquer!
ombudsman
29 Apr 2018
/ 07:48
CORFU. The labyrinth of waste management responsibilities, illegal felling of olive trees and Corfu Prison were the matters of concern to the Ombudsman.
Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis visited the Regional Governor and the Mayor accompanied by a team of officials from the independent authority.
Mr. Galiatsatos and Mr. Pottakis agreed that there was a need for collaboration and communication between the Ionian Islands Region and the Ombudsman in order for both to be aware of the occurrence of any problems.
One particular issue that was discussed was the lack of specialized personnel - Mr. Galiatsatos said that Regional Administration personnel had been reduced by about a third over the last five years without being replaced, leading to understaffing in services.
The visit to the Ionian Islands Regional Administration is part of a wider programme of monitoring and inspection by the Independent Authority in all regions of the country. The first series of visits will be completed by the end of 2018, when the Ombudsman’s Office will have completed 20 years’ operation.
The basic problems of the Municipality were discussed at the meeting with the Mayor. The Mayor referred to understaffing and underfunding at a time when needs have increased, such as the problem with the roads. A particular point of discussion was the issue of waste management and the Mayor gave Mr. Pottakis a complete run-down of the situation and told him what the Municipality had done and what it planned to do.
The Assistant Ombudsman, Ion Sayias, and consultant Yiannis Boutselis also attended the meeting.
During their visit to Corfu, the Ombudsman’s team also met with Magda Papanikolopoulou (Potamos Cultural Society President), representatives from other bodies and organizations and were also planning to visit Corfu Prison.
Mr. Galiatsatos and Mr. Pottakis agreed that there was a need for collaboration and communication between the Ionian Islands Region and the Ombudsman in order for both to be aware of the occurrence of any problems.
One particular issue that was discussed was the lack of specialized personnel - Mr. Galiatsatos said that Regional Administration personnel had been reduced by about a third over the last five years without being replaced, leading to understaffing in services.
The visit to the Ionian Islands Regional Administration is part of a wider programme of monitoring and inspection by the Independent Authority in all regions of the country. The first series of visits will be completed by the end of 2018, when the Ombudsman’s Office will have completed 20 years’ operation.
The basic problems of the Municipality were discussed at the meeting with the Mayor. The Mayor referred to understaffing and underfunding at a time when needs have increased, such as the problem with the roads. A particular point of discussion was the issue of waste management and the Mayor gave Mr. Pottakis a complete run-down of the situation and told him what the Municipality had done and what it planned to do.
The Assistant Ombudsman, Ion Sayias, and consultant Yiannis Boutselis also attended the meeting.
During their visit to Corfu, the Ombudsman’s team also met with Magda Papanikolopoulou (Potamos Cultural Society President), representatives from other bodies and organizations and were also planning to visit Corfu Prison.
