Symi Protests:
Council ups pressure
on Government

The Municipality of Symi has sent an extrajudicial invitation (a formal document that its recipient is required by law to consider; it is often regarded as the last attempt for a settlement before resorting to court action) to the Minister of Mercantile Marine, Mr Manolis Kefalogiannis, explaining the reasons why he should not sign the contract for the subsidised route (by 18,000 Euros a week) from Pireaus to Rhodes via the hard-to-reach Dodekanese islands (Kalimnos, Kos, Nisiros, Tilos, Symi).

In the invitation, signed by the Mayor of Symi Mr Lefteris Papakalodoukas, and approved unanimously by the council, the Municipality expresses their concern about the "dramatic consequences for our island" if the Minister accepts the tender of Blue Star Ferries with the boat "Diagoras" for the route, as it would not stop at Symi and the transport of passengers and goods would take place indirectly via Rhodes. The Municipality claims that the signing of the proposed contract exlcuding Symi from the route would be against the law which requires the local authorities' approval for the scheduling/altering of current shipping routes which at present include a direct link between Pireaus and Symi. Such approval "was never asked and does not exist", says Mr Papakalodoukas.

According to the statement, a ferry connection via Rhodes would not serve the best interests of tranporting passengers and goods as (a) the travel time from Pireaus to Symi would be increased from 15 to 21 hours (taking into account the extra journey time from Symi to Rhodes and the two-hour delay in Rhodes), (b) such an indirect and lengthy route would discourage visitors from coming to the island, and (c) the transport cost would be increased by 25% (48 nautical miles on top of the 220 that is the distance without a "Rhodes connection") inevitably affecting the prices of goods on the island which are already a lot higher compared to prices in the Capital.

When it comes to the official reason given by the Ministry and by Blue Star Ferries for "Diagoras" not stopping at Symi, that it is "too big a boat" (and the Symi Harbour is too small), the Municipality claims that such a reason is unjustified and simply an excuse, as in the past boats of similar length to Diagoras (such as, Rodanthi, Marina, Dimitroula, Patmos, Rodos) have stopped at Symi without any problems whatsoever. In addition, Mr Papakalodoukas points out that Blue Star Ferries have not guaranteed the ferry connection via Rhodes (a tender requirement) as it is still uknown which boat would be used to take passengers and goods to Symi when Diagoras arrives in Rhodes.

The Mayor goes on to say that during the 60s, the island was served by the boats Miaoulis, Ekaterini, and Kanaris Karaiskakis and passengers could come from Pireaus to Symi in less than 21 hours. During the same period, it used to take 16 hours to go to Crete, while now it only takes 6 hours. "We don't believe that we, the residents of Symi, ask for something out of the ordinary by not wanting to let our island slip back to those days. It would also be a shame for an island with exceptional beauty amongst the Aegean islands, with a population of more than 3,000 which is on the increase, to be condemned to isolation as it would be the only one of the Aegean islands without a direct connection with Pireaus", says the Mayor.

The statement points out that Symi's extraordinary recovery in recent years is mainly due to the residents creating the shipping company ANES from the little they had, and which has served successfully the island's link with Rhodes giving the opportunity to Symiots who have emigrated all over the world to return to the island and contribute to making Symi what locals and foreigners alike refer to as "a truly unique destination". In contrast to the very good local ferry links with Rhodes, the connection with the biggest port of Greece, Pireaus, is totally inadequate. This, according to the Mayor, is "in direct contradiction with the constitutional requirement for the development of policies for the Greek islands aiming at the support, survival and development of their small local communities".

The Mayor's invitation concludes by asking the Minister not to accept the current tender by Blue Star Ferries and not to sign the contract for the route but to instead repeat the tender and explicitly include a binding provision making the stopping at Symi harbour an obligatory condition for a successful bid.