Editorial Ta Nea: Priorities

It was in February, 2014, that the current Attica prefect, then a candidate, said that “a pro- bailout memorandum person collects the trash differently than an anti-memorandum person”.

Four years later, citizens see that the trash is not being collected. They see an accumulation of garbage forming growing mounds on the streets. They see a threat to their health.

The capital today is drowning in garbage. The grandiose proclamations of that era were also buried under the trash.

Moreover, any grand plans will also drown if those who are governing do not pay the attention that every government must to managing the problems of everyday life. That is where a large part of the battle is judged, in the battle of everyday life.

A government can certainly make its political choices and set its priorities. It cannot, however, be indifferent to the problems in the lives of citizens and relegate them to the bottom of the political agenda. Such a choice betrays disdain for the citizens and their needs, for which they pay taxes.

It is impermissible to allow problems such as trash collection to fester. Problems that should have been solved yesterday cannot be put off until tomorrow. Those problems are like the garbage: they accumulate and become extremely hard to solve – regardless of whether one is pro-memorandum or anti-memorandum.