they said were unfair and exploitative agreements that gave contractors a free rein.
Sunday's action, which started at around noon and peaked at 3:00 p.m., was decided in January during a meeting of the nationwide coordinating action committees against hikes in road tolls and the companies failure to build alternative access roads for local communities.
The aim of the organisers was to open all toll posts throughout the country, while in many areas they arranged rallies and transported people to the locations involved by bus.
Speaking for the organising committee in the Oropos area, which blockaded the Afidnes toll post, Stratis Loupatatzis told the ANA-MPA that members of the movement were not fighting for lower road tolls but better contracts.
"What we are seeking is the abolition of all the contracts that have been signed and follow a logic of pre-payment. We pay taxes on fuel and road taxes so that roads can be built. We will not pre-pay road tolls as well," he stressed.
Loupatatzis pointed out that Oropos-area residents were currently having to shell out roughly 1,500-1,700 euro a year to get around their own neighbourhood.
He also dismissed the legal action against members of the movement, saying that this was an attempt to frighten people into backing down.
"We are waiting for group summons and we are ready to go to court because we have also filed complaints against the companies at the Council of State, asking for the concession contracts to be cancelled," he said.
According to the "Citizens of West Athens" movement member Dimitrios Davos, meanwhile, the contracts signed were illegal and abusive.
"It simply isn't possible to have to pay for something that hasn't been built yet," he stressed, while noting that the company that collected the road tolls on the Attica highway had contributed a very small percentage to the cost of construction and was set to make massive profits through the constant increases in tolls.
"It's not so much an 'I won't pay, I won't pay' movement. It's more a 'I'm not getting paid, I can't pay' movement," he added.
source: ANA-MPA
