PASOK-Movement for Change accuses the government of the strangulation of the municipalities through the ESDNA and the mismanagement of the burial tax, through the head of the KTE Interiors of the party, Panagiotis Doudonis.

In his announcement, he accuses the government that “instead of taking responsibility for the mismanagement of the Special Interlevel Association of the Prefecture of Attica (EDSNA) and ensuring transparency and accountability in waste management, it chooses to shift the burden to the municipalities.” He emphasizes in particular that the decision of the Executive Committee of EDSNA (210/2024), “imposed suddenly and without consultation, leads to more than doubling the financial burden of the municipalities for the burial fee, causing disruption and serious questions about management practices and financial balances of the organization”.

Mr. Doudonis states that the decision of the ESDNA Executive Committee “raises reasonable concerns about how EDSNA manages the revenues from the burial fee. Despite the organization’s obligation to return the funds to the Hellenic Recycling Organization (EOAN) for their return to OTAs through recycling actions, to date no such return has been made.” He notes that the question that remains unanswered is “where do these amounts end up” and “whether the increase in fees is a cover for EDSNA’s financial deficit”.

It states, among other things, that this decision “was taken suddenly, after the municipal budgets were passed, undermining the financial stability of the municipalities. It was based on 2020 figures, which do not reflect the significant changes in waste disposal in recent years, leading to unreasonably high charges.

It violated the legality, as it was not approved by the Board of Directors of EDSNA, as the law provides.”

He emphasizes that passing on this excessive burden to municipalities will ultimately hurt citizens through increased municipal fees, through the degradation of cleaning services and environmental infrastructure.

PASOK notes that it requires immediate actions, namely:

To revoke the decision 210/2024 of the EDSNA and to suspend its implementation until there is transparency and a fair distribution of the costs.

To revoke the decisions of the EDSNA until the decision of the Council of State is published, which ruled on the case on December 3 after the appeal of KEDE and dozens of municipalities.

To investigate the fate of the burial fee funds, with full transparency and publication of the financial data of EDSNA.

To activate the return of the funds from the burial tax to the OTAs for recycling actions.

To clarify the case of the double withholding of the 2022 burial fee.

“The government and EDSNA must be held accountable for their practices and stop burdening the self-government and citizens with their failures and lack of transparency.

Self-government must operate in the public interest, without shadows and questions that harm the trust of society”, emphasizes, among other things, Mr. Doudonis.