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Greece's ranger corps slammed
06/08/2007 21:30 - (SA)
Athens - Greece appointed on Monday a retired police brigadier to head a ranger corps supposed to prevent fires, but already slammed by critics as a pointless entity staffed with near-pensioners.
The move comes in the middle of a season of wildfires which have burned thousands of hectares of forest and agricultural land and have killed eight people, including five fire-fighters.
But the opposition and several media have cried foul, noting that hundreds of the rangers are beneficiaries of a job tender put out 14 years ago, meaning that many are over 40-years-old.
"This is a historic moment," Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said at the new corps leader's investiture on Monday, which revives a department originally abolished in 1984.
The rangers' 55-year-old chief, a retired police brigadier now harvesting chickpeas, was recalled from his farm to head the new force, the minister told parliament in May.
Among the rangers' duties will be to protect the environment, keep a lookout for fires, monitor water use and resolve farmer squabbles, Polydoras said.
They will be based at home, use their own cars for missions and have been given €650 to obtain their own uniforms.
Dubbed 'ecology police', the new rangers will be sent to the countryside in mid-August after four days of training.
"This is a party army designed to repay debts to political friends," the main opposition Pasok party said, arguing that the government is eager to secure votes ahead of elections rumoured for autumn.
The corps will initially number 1 700 rangers and will eventually reach 4 500, the ministry said.
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