Doukas On Gkrava: “City Did Its Part, Now The State Must Step In”

Athens Mayor Haris Doukas spoke about the Gkrava case, the inspections carried out at the school complex after a gas odor was detected, and the need for the relevant state agencies to step in, in an interview with journalist Voula Kechagia on the radio station Athens 9.84.

Doukas said that both the primary and secondary inspections, carried out at the initiative of the City of Athens, showed no gas leak, while noting that the cause of the odor remains unknown. For this reason, he is calling for additional inspections to be carried out immediately by the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) and the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, in order to clarify the circumstances of the incident and ensure the safe return of students and teachers to the classrooms.

Until the investigation is complete, the school complex will remain closed and classes will continue through distance learning, the mayor of Athens stressed.

The full interview of Haris Doukas on Athens 9.84 follows:

H. Doukas: Good morning, and thank you very much for the invitation. I am at the Acropolis, waiting for the minister and, of course, the President of the Republic, so that we can once again raise the flag of liberation, 82 years later. And to send a message that Democracy constantly requires struggles and battles. As you said yourself, things at the international level are quite complicated and difficult.

As for Gkrava, the school is in distance learning again today. There was an odor, and from the first moment we were informed, we took the necessary steps. A primary inspection was carried out, which found no leak. Last night, the secondary inspection was also completed by crews available to the City, as well as by a contracted company. According to the findings of the company that carried out the inspection, which we are actually sending to all interested parties today, again no leak was found. Some other, smaller individual issues were found, but they have absolutely nothing to do with a leak. We will fix those as well; they concern some studies that have not been updated for many years. However, the source of the odor remains unclear.

In other words, both inspections on our side showed no leak. So, from the very first moment, we asked for a third body to step in. The City did whatever it had to do. We also carried out the secondary inspection. In fact, while we were talking about ten days, we pushed to have the findings by late Sunday night. The Ministry of Education must instruct the Technical Chamber to carry out specialized inspections. Of course, I believe the Ministry of Civil Protection must also, with its own people, since it has specialized crews, inform us and determine the cause of the initial odor. Because otherwise, students and teachers cannot feel safe. Until this happens, that is, until the inspections are carried out by the State, the ministries, and the TEE (we have carried out whatever inspections we had to, two, I repeat, and at two levels), the Gkrava school complex will remain closed and classes will be held through distance learning.

V. Kechagia: Mr. Mayor, can you explain to me why your request for inspections by the Technical Chamber and the Ministry of Civil Protection is reasonable? Why isn’t the Ministry of Education giving this direction, this instruction, or in any case this order for the relevant technical crews to come in?

H. Doukas: I believe it is a matter of bureaucracy. I think (and I will see the minister now) that the minister, for her part, also wants the school to open. Students and the educational community must be in their physical space; distance learning is not a solution. So it must immediately… I have spoken with both the minister and the TEE, and we are also pushing from our side. I think the TEE has already appointed an expert, so that it can get whatever approvals it needs from the ministry and go in as well.

On our side, we are there constantly with our crews. So let them go in, carry out the inspections, and finish as soon as possible. I repeat that within one week we carried out two inspections, and we are even sending the findings. The third inspection must also be carried out immediately, so we can understand where this notorious odor came from, so that there is no sense of insecurity and uncertainty. At this point, I think the Ministry that deals with such natural disasters, the Ministry of Civil Protection, can also offer a solution. This is a school that has been in turmoil for a week. Let the Ministry of Civil Protection also come with special equipment, measure all the spaces, and see for themselves whether this odor exists and where it came from.

V. Kechagia: That is clear, Mr. Mayor. I take away that until all the necessary inspections are completed, the school will operate through distance learning to protect students, professors, and teachers.

H. Doukas: Exactly. Imagine that we now have official papers showing there is no leak, but we have not found what caused that first odor that created the panic. Imagine someone walking into the school and saying something smells; a whole process would be needed all over again. So we have completed both inspections. We are waiting for the TEE, with the Ministry’s approval, as well as the relevant Ministry that specializes in these matters, to also give us its expertise, so that the student community and teachers can enter with complete safety and classes can continue in their physical space.