- 22 March 2024
- Posted by: eyath-news
- Category: All News
Present to their “rendezvous at the public taps”, EYATH, Municipality of Thessaloniki and Greenpeace celebrated today the World Water Day by presenting the first of the 10 water fountains that will be changed by the EYATH Workers’ Union along Nea Paralia.
A large number of people were informed by EYATH staff and Greenpeace volunteers about the importance of communal taps for the quality of life of citizens and the protection of the environment from single-use plastics, while 2,000 multi-purpose flasks were handed out to people.
At the stand in Nea Paralia, next to the statue of Alexander the Great, the first new water fountain was presented, out of a total of 10 that will be voluntarily installed by EYATH employees along the beach. The flasks that were distributed there were immediately filled with water by young and old who tried the new tap, with the first and best being the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis. “Today we are celebrating World Water Day by giving citizens and visitors of Nea Paralia a modern network of public taps. With a total of ten new taps that will be installed along the entire length of our city’s top landmark, we are ensuring clean, potable water, protecting the environment, upgrading the public space and the daily life of our citizens”, pointed out the mayor and added: “I want to thank EYATH for the cooperation, the Workers’ Union of the institution for the voluntary installation of the taps and of course Greenpeace, which is already running the ‘See you at the taps’ program, in order to ensure drinking water everywhere. The next appointment at the public taps will be given at the fountains of the Upper Town, where again in collaboration with EYATH, which is committed to restoring the functioning of the hydraulic mechanisms, but also with the Ephorate of Antiquities, we aspire to immediately proceed to their fixing and their using from the citizens”.
The president of EYATH, Agis Papadopoulos, pointed out that “this year’s celebration of World Water Day is dedicated by the UN to the need for the cooperation of the interested parties, in order to ensure equal access to water resources for all. It’s a matter of social cohesion in developed countries, peaceful coexistence between countries and sustainable management of the most valuable natural resource.” “Here, in our city, we have chosen to cooperate with the Municipality of Thessaloniki and Greenpeace by highlighting the importance of shared public taps as an important element of the quality of life of our fellow citizens, even replacing the taps of Nea Paralia with new, functional ones. After all, EYATH’s adherence to the philosophy of public taps is also demonstrated in practice with the placement of a public tap at the entrance of our renovated building in Egnatia St. . A modern, functional faucet at the disposal of every passing fellow citizen,” added Mr. Papadopoulos.
From her part, Vicky Maglara, Volunteer Manager of Greenpeace’s Hellenic Office, said: “Today, World Water Day, Greenpeace’s Hellenic Office and its volunteer team joined forces with EYATH, in an event to defend together the inalienable right of all of us to clean, potable water. In this context, we inaugurated a tap together with the Municipality of Thessaloniki and informed the citizens about the “See you at the taps” program, which aims to ensure drinking water everywhere and access to an adequate network of shared taps for everyone, as well as reducing the single use plastics, littering and also the rational use of water. We were also given the opportunity to address the mayor of Thessaloniki, who pledged to proceed with the installation of new taps in the city center.”
World Water Day 2024 is dedicated by the United Nations to the need to work together for equal access to water resources for all people, so that water becomes the catalyst for a more peaceful, fair world.
