Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis rejected criticism by an official placed in charged of a major development and reconstruction plan for the northeastern border region of Evros, saying the plan is moving ahead.
Former PASOK minister Stavros Benos announced his resignation from the Special Committee for the Development and Reconstruction of Evros on September 2, warning that the post-fire recovery effort could deteriorate without a holistic approach and a single operational center.
“I don’t think he’s right and this was confirmed by the recent presentation of the plan by local authorities,” Mitsotakis said, referring to the committee’s meeting in Nea Vyssa in late July, where major deviations from that plan emerged.
“The full financing package has been approved…and the project is being implemented … I think we should focus on the essence of the interventions…but I feel that we are consistent with our basic commitments.”
Benos said the project had drifted far from the master plan that he and his NGO Diazoma submitted, adding that the original framework has been replaced by an Integrated Territorial Investment of 108 projects with a budget of €309.9 million, a €2.69 billion reduction from the government’s initial commitments. He said he was caught off guard by the changes.
