The Greek crisis
Nearly everyone we’ve spoken to here has been affected by the economic crisis: the farmers, shopkeepers… the beauty masks growing hardship.
Jun 27,2015
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Tim Friend: The small of teargas lingers in the air over Athens but this is still the popular image of Greece. Now even this paradise could be lost. No one here is taking seriously a German suggestion to sell off Greek islands to pay national debt but for Eleni Kypreou, general secretary of the agricultural association of pistachio makers on the island of Aegina it’s another humiliation for her and her workers. There used to be 600 members of the co-operative, now there are just 230. This year sales are down so the payouts are much lower than expected. She calls the economic crisis a war.
Eleni: We are not going to let the crooks survive [laughs]. You want… you want us to let only the crooks survive? No, no it’s not possible, it’s not possible. No, we are going to survive. And maybe if we are hungry we’re going to eat pistachios, I don’t know. It’s very good for the health. You don’t know what’s going to happen but I… I don’t think the worst is going to happen.
Tim: Nearly everyone we’ve spoken to here has been affected by the economic crisis: the farmers, shopkeepers… the beauty masks growing hardship. The island is close enough to Athens to provide a weekend escape but as pensions are cut and jobs lost the bitterness has reached even here. Sorson Lambrou worked in construction but retirement is now proving tougher than he thought and he’s in no doubt that politicians are to blame. He told me they should all be hanged in St. Agnes square, they should return what they’ve stolen because we’re talking about a lot of money. For the residents and farmers of Aegina keeping the coffers full is going to be a tough job for years to come. Tim Friend, Al Jazeera, Aegina.
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