This blog`s music asks a question... listen and then ANSWER.. please! this is going to be almost your last chance, because I`m nearly home.
Woke up in Elati to a splendiferous dawn - as dawn so often is after a real humdinger of a storm-and started to try and get my stuff dry - surely THIS will be the last time?
George knew we were near home so he was impatient and stroppy while I was trying to tack him up. No standing there with a martyred expression while I loaded saddle bags and panniers. No standing there at all, just me trying to fling things on while he moved about. Then he dragged me down the lane towards Elati, and then down the asphalt towards Tranovalto. I managed to get on somewhere near the river, and we continued at a considerable lick along the road. Unusually for this stage of our journey he decided he wanted to stop at lunch time. We stopped near Mikrovalto. Tethered George and went into the village to get some supplies for me. The shop was shut, but luckily the owner lived above and came down and opened up.
I went back to George to eat lunch. It was then that I noticed that the water supply was not what I hoped(see photo). George had a large puddle to drink from but I ..
In many areas the level of nitrates in the groundwater is dangerously high. But putting labels warning people doesn`t really help the problem. The cattle and sheep in the area have no other water to drink, so they have to drink it. And presumably, if its unsafe for us to drink this water, it is also unsafe for us to drink it second hand in meat and milk. The problem has got to be tackled at base..the amount of fertilizer has got to be controlled. Knowing what we know now about the past ministers of agriculture and food - including the revered Dr Kiltidis who encouraged the use of chemicals to control Marchalina hellenica, AFTER the government had lost a case in the highest court in the land for endangering the public by so doing- (who` pocket was he in?) we cannot be too hopeful about any immediate cessation of the self poisoning of the population encouraged by multinational agri business..so more and more water is getting unsafe,
Last time I was in this area awareness was growing and several cool springs much loved and used by local people had been labelled undrinkeable. But as I saw here, the problem is not going away.
The mosquitoes where I had chosen to sit were unbearable. So I went for a walk.
In the hay meadows I saw the vivid blue spots caused by that bluest of blue flowers -cornflowers. These have almost disappeared in England, because they can`t stand agri chemicals- so the fact that there were lots here shows that things aren`t yet as bad as England. Not that that means they aren`t bad, just they could be worse.
On the path some little black insects landed. Doesn`t its design look like a fighter jet? must be a very aerodynamic tiny creature. There are even smaller even sleeker versions, but they are so damn aerodynamic that I never manage to photograph them.
I remembered that the long road to Prosillio had been full of lignite lorries the last time I was there, because tehy were extracting lignite from a new mine there. Now there were no lorries, but a new road took us miles out of our way. The mine was exhausted, and there was a big hole where the old road used to be. The mine was being planted to stabilise it and, presumably to hide the wrecked countryside. And what trees were planted and being copiously watered?
Guess? What trees are environmentalists always lobbying the government NOT to use?
Exactly- acacias. This is another sign of corrupt government- years ago the university forestry department had lecturers who returned from the USA bringing the news that planting fast growing alien trees was good policy. Words like "nurse trees" like "economic benefits" were bandied around. BUT we know better now. Even the students who heard this stuff are reaching retirement age. What can the excuse be here? Whose friend has an acacia plantation for government use?
Because of the long detour it was pretty near dark when we got to Prosillio. I saw a place where we might park. I went to check if there was water. A lady saw me and invited me for coffee.
This was Foteini. She insisted on feeding me as well. I was so tired that when she made a pot of real coffee it was like drinking liquid energy. It gave me the strength to unpack and crash.
Before I became completely out of it I heard about what`s been happening in Prosillio.
Unemployment.
Foteini`s husband had worked as a builder for a company that has had no work for months.
He keeps his spirits up by doing building jobs around their house.
"Its lovely here" I said brightly.
"Its lovely here" he repeated ironically "How lovely is anywhere if you`ve got no future?"
As in so many villages, as with so many people I spoke to.
There is a state of shock. People knew that the government was up to tricks. What they did not know, (and how could they?) was the extent of the cynicism of the individuals who set out to destroy the security and the very lives of their own people in order to enrich themselves. Even now, people like Foteini can scarcely believe it. It is just too alien a concept.Especially for country people who have had no "education".
No comments:
Post a Comment