Syntagma Square was to be turned into a beautiful Christmas village this year with flickering lights, vendors selling treats and tastes of the holidays and a giant ferris wheel, towering over every building in the area.
The Athens Eye, as it was called, was installed in the central square on December 21 and was to operate free during the holiday period. It was to remain in the square for a period of two months after the holidays.
In what has turned into a farcical blame game in the national Greek media, members of the Athens City Council are blaming each other (based on party lines), while others blame the company which built the ferris wheel for not getting the necessary safety permits.
According to news reports, the company first petitioned the municipality of Athens back in February of 2016 but the topic never reached the city council’s agenda until a week before Christmas.
Installation of the ferris wheel, however, did proceed on December 21 and it was set to offer its first ride a few days later, just in time for the holiday season.
Many question how the wheel could have been erected without the proper and relevant permissions and licenses by the city. But it was erected— and stood there motionless for days as bureaucrats argued in City Hall offices and on television, blaming each other for the mess.
A confusing exchange of statements about safety concerns between city officials and the Dutch company that installed the wheel, as well as a damning safety report from the Attica Regional Authority ultimately led the Athens City Council to issue a statement that the ferris wheel must be dismantled.
Trying to make sense of the fiasco, a Greek television commentator called it an example of a “classic Greek” way that things are run— always at the last minute and always chaotic.
In the end, the ferris wheel never carried a single passenger, but it did generate some fun for Twitter-using Greeks who poked fun at the wheel that never turned.
ΚΑΙ ο τεράστιος Μάκης στην προσπάθεια να γυρίσει η #Ροδα Καμίνη… pic.twitter.com/IMzTzMErh8
— Χ. Χατζηχαραλάμπους (@chatzicha) December 28, 2016
Μια ύστατη προσπάθεια να γυρίσει η #Ροδα Καμίνη pic.twitter.com/JlhZJMN01T
— Χ. Χατζηχαραλάμπους (@chatzicha) December 28, 2016
London vs Athens….
Η μάχη της #Ροδας#ροδα #χριστουγεννα pic.twitter.com/8Pb8FACFk5
— Leonidas ToEat ♎ (@Lchristou) December 28, 2016
1 comment
If they only did there job right and quickly then no one would be complaining !!i never understand why paper work in the greek sector takes so long …WHY ??