ATHENS – The independent committee set up to investigate the deadly Attica fires of July 23rd on Thursday met government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and presented a time schedule for its work, saying its final proposals will be ready at the end of December, while the head of the committee Dr. Johann Georg Goldammer introduced him to its members.

The formation of the committee, set up following a decision by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, was published in the government gazette on September 10.

According to an announcement, Goldammer stressed the independent nature of the committee and said that its work will be based on an analysis of data on the development of forest fires in Greece over the years and international scientific findings and experience.

The committee will work with specialist scientists and representatives of agencies and services involved in managing fires, take down their opinions and study their proposals. The results will be included in a report that will be discussed at a roundtable with the agencies involved, in order to assess and finalise the proposals that will be submitted to parliament at the end of December 2018.

Not just Greece’s ruling party and main opposition New Democracy but all the political parties in the country must agree to support the independent committee that is being set up to investigate the causes of wildfires, the director of the United Nations’ Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) Dr. Johann Georg Goldammer said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) published on Saturday.