Ierapetra is a Greek town and municipality located on the southeast coast of Crete.
Education
In 2003, the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Marketing and Commerce was opened in Ierapetra. In the wake of the Greek financial crisis, in early 2013, the government had to decide whether to merge or close several schools (in a plan named „Athena“ after the Greek goddess of wisdom), including TEI of Marketing in Ierapetra, sparking protests. Around 7,000 people staged a peaceful protest on 8 February 2013 holding candles and torches. Local authorities and local media described the march as „the biggest rally in Ierapetra to date.“ On 12 February 2013, the town of Ierapetra witnessed a big protest rally, as thousands of people took to the streets once again, demanding the TEI school to stay in town and the hospital to be upgraded.
Health
People in Ierapetra staging a protest rally for the hospital and the technical school of the city.
The General Hospital of Ierapetra was set up in 1955 with funds from Cretans who lived in the USA. In 2010, it was announced that, under a government plan for new administrative divisions called „the Kallikratis Project“, the hospital was to be shut down. This sparked an unprecedented wave of protests within the region, as the hospital serves 40,000 people including some from the neighboring prefecture of Agios Nikolaos. The protests culminated in a march that took place on 25 January 2011. Another march from Ierapetra to Iraklion followed on the same day, with over 2,500 people from and around the town taking part. Protests included occupying the building where the Decentralized Administration was located and an outdoor theatrical play performed by the protestors. Following those incidents, it was announced that the authorities had halted the plans to close the hospital, instead funding it with 1 million euros and promising to send more doctors.
However, despite the promises of the government, problems still existed surrounding the inadequate provision of health services and the lack of staff in the only hospital in the region. As a result, a fresh round of protests began on 26 May 2011 with a rally outside the seat of the municipality in Ierapetra. Around 1,000 people came to storm the town hall, protesting the latest additions to the building and demanding hospital upgrades instead. The protest, which is regarded a precedent for the region, lasted for 16 days. A row between the municipal authorities and the commission that advocated the upgrade of the hospital resulted in a stalemate and the prosecution of the people who led the storming of the town hall. The Head of the local church, Evgenios, mediated the negotiations and went to Athens along with the mayor and other officials. Negotiations eventually resulted in an agreement to upgrade the hospital. Following an order by the incumbent mayor, 14 citizens were put to trial for the town hall occupation and were found not guilty on 11 July 2011. It was the first such trial in the town to date. Another protest on 20 July 2011 featured a march from Ierapetra to Iraklion and yet another despite the rain in Heraklion on 29 February 2012.
According to inspectors, the hospital was rated „as an example for other hospitals in regional Greece“. However, it was merged by the government only two months before the June 2012 Greek legislative elections. Over the next few months, the merger caused yet more problems concerning bureaucracy, inadequate food and supplies, and a lack of qualified medical professionals. On 30 January 2013, people staged another protest outside the hospital of Ierapetra. The hospital was at the center of a new rally in Ierapetra which took place on 12 February 2013 and another spreading throughout the prefecture of Lasithi. As a result, on 20 February 2013, thousands of people from Lasithi marched to Selinari, Lasithi, and Iraklion. Following the march, Cretans from Lasithi demanded access to health services, equal to the rest of Crete, and stormed the Regional Health headquarters in Iraklion. The unrest ended on 22 February 2013 following an agreement with officials that TEI schools, hospitals, and facilities would stay in the region.
The situation relapsed in early 2014 and a new rally was held on 7 May 2014. People from Ierapetra went to Heraklion, where they met with Antonios Grigorakis, the Head of the Prefecture in charge of Health, who committed to installing a permanent pathologist in the General Hospital (coming from another hospital in the Prefecture of Lasithi). Three people were injured before the meeting following clashes with the police.
