The Best of GRReporter
flag_bg flag_gr flag_gb

The threat for severe fines and the attempts to involve politics cause an outflow of the movement “I do not pay”

04 March 2011 / 16:03:07  GRReporter
2361 reads

There is 30 to 50 per cent declined in the number of drivers who refuse to pay tolls. This registered the five concession companies that manage the Greek highways. The decline started from the moment of the voting on the measures that "criminalize" the specific violation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Infrastructure intends to establish by April seven "temporary" toll post registers on the Egnatia highway and by the end of the year it is expected to be established a plan for the resumption of secondary roads, where occur most traffic accidents.

Turning the refusal to pay tolls in a violation of the traffic ordinance, which is punishable by a fine and may even reach to the suspension of the driving license seems it cause a serious problem for the movement "I do not pay". According to the consortia that manage major thoroughfares in Greece the number of people refusing to pay has decreased to varying degrees in some stretches.

In the section Metamorfosi - Maliakos (to Agios Konstantinos) on the highway Athens - Thessaloniki the number of drivers who raise the barrier on their own and pay no fee has reduced from 15 to 8 per cent. On the same highway in the section Maliakos - Klidi in the area of Imatia the decrease is from 15 to 10 percent. Interestingly, most of the people who refuse to pay are not drivers of cars but drivers of trucks and truck stocks. The refusal to pay by car drives is 2-3 percent of the total number of cars in this category, while the relevant percentage for trucks is 30-35 percent.

On the highway Elevsina-Corinth-Patras the number of drivers who do not pay fell from 2.5 to 1 per cent, and on the highway Corinth-Megalopoli from 1,5 to 1 per cent.

Nevertheless, the five concession companies require from the authorities increased police presence at the toll post registers, as well as measures against the campaigns of the movement "I do not pay" and other local committees, which are usually held every Friday and Sunday. Surprising is also the statement of a representative of the companies that the protesting members of the trade union of the Communist Party PAME after the end of the campaigns  for opening the barriers at the toll post registers, pay normally the fees.

At the same time the discussion continues about revising the terms of concession contracts. Deputy Minister of Public Works Yiannis Magriotis said that the reduction in the price of tolls, which the government intends to introduce will not be the same for all highways. It will be more noticeable on the road axes that are in the process of repair. He presented data showing that serious road accidents with casualties on the Egnatia highway have decreased dozen times from 80-90 accidents in 1999 to 6-8 annually after its construction.

The Ministry of Infrastructure recognized that the condition of secondary roads is bad. This was evident from the increase in the number of accidents on them. According to the Secretary General of the co-financed projects Sergios Lambropoulos in the coming months tenders will be held for 60 projects worth 250 million euros for the renewal of local roads. He stressed the need to set up a "national register of roads" and in particular a register of the bridges and tunnels in order to track their maintenance processes.

The Secretary General announced the creation of a "Commission for interoperability" of the toll post registers in Greece, in order for them to use electronic payment systems, not only among themselves but also with other European countries. According to publications in the Greek press concession companies have done almost nothing in this direction.

At the same time the movement "I don’t pay" continues to hold campaigns for non-payment of tolls, and a few days ago it organized a protest outside the parliament building, in which participated about a thousand people. Regardless of this, according to some sources, the dynamics of the movement has decreased due to the fact that some of its most prominent participants are closely associated with leftist parties and radical extra-parliamentary formations. This caused a serious outflow of participants whose only goal was the protest against the high tolls, and wished not to support political movements and ideas.

Tags: society tolls concession companies movement
SUPPORT US!
GRReporter’s content is brought to you for free 7 days a week by a team of highly professional journalists, translators, photographers, operators, software developers, designers. If you like and follow our work, consider whether you could support us financially with an amount at your choice.
Subscription
You can support us only once as well.
blog comments powered by Disqus