Stefanos Kasselakis praised the extra effort made by doctors under adverse conditions during his visit to the General Hospital of Syros “Vardakeio and Proio”, stressing that “it does not make sense to have a social state and a welfare state with the sole motive of philanthropy. We cannot rely on philotimos to be able to manage the state”.

The president of SYRIZA PS listened to the problems presented to him by the medical staff, with the main – as they mentioned – lack of staff and especially specialists, which leads to the under-functionality of the only hospital in the Cyclades.

The official opposition leader was received by the hospital management, the representative of the hospital doctors and members of the medical staff.

Visit to Neoria

Afterwards, Mr. Kasselakis participated in a meeting at the offices of the administration of the Youth of Syros and underlined the need to protect the shipyard industry as an “apple of the eye”, since, as he underlined, we see the industries from Greece leaving abroad.

“If you look at the numbers from the Bank of Greece or from ELSTAT, foreign direct investments have decreased compared to last year, by 40%,” he said. The president of SYRIZA-PS spoke about the honest discussion that the state must have about how these businesses are set up correctly and in the long term and he referred to the priorities that must exist. He noted in particular, that “the first priority is the person, which means safety at work. Whatever expense that may be, whatever expense that may be. Beyond that, certainly respect for the environment along with growth and sustainability and a more resilient economy.”

Mr. Kasselakis criticized the government for “downgrading” the Labor Inspection Body, but also for the choices in the administrations of public organizations: “We know that in our country the Labor Inspection Body does not work properly. They have made it an Independent Authority so they don’t control it. But where they should have no control, such as the administrations of Public Organizations, they want to interfere. It is a very selective government in what it wants to control and not control.”

The next stop of the SYRIZA-PS president’s tour is Paros, followed today by Naxos and Amorgos.