Parliament: The Athens-Lekosia Memorandum of Cooperation for infrastructure projects in the fire-stricken An. Athens after the flooding in the stricken Attica

Ratified by the Plenary Assembly of the Parliament the Athens-Lekosia Memorandum of Cooperation for the implementation of infrastructure projects for the reconstruction and upgrading of the fire-affected areas of Eastern Attica. New Democracy, the Movement for Change and Hellenic Solution were in favour, while SYRIZA, KKE and MP25 voted against.

Nikos Tagaras, Deputy Minister of Environment & Energy, responsible for spatial planning and urban environment issues, noted that the memorandum concerns a donation from the Republic of Cyprus, which, after consultation between the Greek government and Nicosia and the local municipalities, will be used for the construction of social housing at the location of Skoufeiika in Rafina, an area of 16 acres. According to him, about 8,000 square metres will be built, i.e. about 100 houses, with an average of 80 sqm each.

«I know that the needs in East Attica are many and for health facilities and rehabilitation facilities through social housing and order in the area [...] We started from Mati, we will expand next door and everywhere» said Mr.Tagaras and added: «But after cooperation and consultation, between the Republic of Cyprus and the Hellenic Republic, it was agreed that the best use of the money (would be) social housing.».

This was preceded by criticism from the opposition, with the main points being the change of the purpose of the original agreement (under SYRIZA), from the construction of a hospital in the area to social housing «without it being clear who the beneficiaries will be», as well as “photographic” layout allowing a nightclub in a forest area. Indicatively, the rapporteur of SYRIZA, Christos Spirtzis had described the ND as a «party of the fire victims» lost money", referring to the government's inaction in Mati. Ο Socrates Famellos, Minister of Environment of SYRIZA had called for the withdrawal of the bill while Rep, Theano Fotiou had said that Mati would become another case of direct awards and that Cyprus“ 10 million, unfortunately, will be wasted on the wrong project by the ”day labourers" of the staff state.

Commenting on SYRIZA's criticism that in the forest recreation area, which is also funded by the Cypriot donation, there will also be a night “bar”, Mr.Tagaras clarified that the installation of small wooden huts for use as “refreshment rooms” will be allowed, allowing their operation under the supervision of the concessionaire, in order to have some income that will go exclusively for the maintenance and protection of the area itself.

In his intervention, the parliamentary representative of the Change Movement, Costas Skandalidis spoke of «the ping-pong between the Southwest and Syriza». «There is a confrontation that repeats the same arguments, the same pattern, it's like two parties playing ping-pong at the same table, and we want to have a distance from this table. So we don't want to have an equal distance from the Southwest and Syriza, as the government is denouncing us, we want to have a serious distance from the ping-pong table that has been played all this time.».

Ο KKE MP Christos Katsotis stressed that the wounds of the deadly fire in East Attica, in Eye, are still open: In Mati there are still people living in the camps after almost four years, said Katsotis, who pointed out the region's need for a hospital.

Η MP for the Hellenic Solution, Maria Athanasiou said that «we cannot be negative to this touching gesture of Cypriot Hellenism». He stressed, however, that the partnership between Greece and Cyprus [...] «should under no circumstances become an excuse for mismanagement of the allocated resources, for serving private interests, but also for a low level of redevelopment of the site».

For its part, the MP of MP25, Maria Apatzidi, stressing that «such donations show the quagmire in which Greece has fallen under the memorandum, where the state can no longer meet its basic obligations towards its inhabitants». He also noted the risk that the timetables for the implementation of the donation would not be met.

Ο MP Vassilis Economou of the Southwest He spoke of “political slips” of SYRIZA: «It voted against the Pediatric Hospital in Thessaloniki because it is private law and now it says a second “no”: today there is a winner, the people who will have secured their social housing, and a loser, you who said “no”. As for the hospital in the area, Mr. Economou said that “the hospital in Mesogeia will be built and it will be a public hospital, but it will be the result of a comprehensive study by the Ministry of Health, not by you, not by Cyprus.».

After the meeting, sources of the SYRIZA parliamentary group spoke of «speculation» that «has its limits», as «the Southwest, faithful to the tactics of tomb raiding, attempts to make black and white», regarding the ratification of the Memorandum of Cooperation. «After two and a half years Mitsotakis government and three and a half years of abuse, the rehabilitation in Mati cannot be bars instead of hospitals,» the same sources noted.