Speaking to SKAI, the Deputy Minister of the Interior, responsible for Local Self-Government, announced the reinforcement of the municipalities of the mainland country with 11.25 million euros and of the island municipalities by the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy with 10 million euros to deal with the water shortage. Vassilis Spanakis.

In particular he stated:

“In order to strengthen this continuous effort of the Municipalities, at the initiative of the minister, Theodoros Livanios, 11.25 million euros will be spent by the Ministry of the Interior to strengthen the municipalities, not the islanders. But it will come the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy to give another 10 million to strengthen our islands. Therefore, over 21 million euros will be given for the emergency aid to deal with the water shortage».

What will the funding be about?

“The three steps. The first is the upgrade of the existing wells. The second is for new drilling and the third is for leased desalination units. We are talking about expenses that the municipalities may have incurred during this period in order to cover the summer season. But it’s not just a problem in summer, it’s also in winter.”

His statements in detail:

The Deputy Minister of the Interior stated that “a very specific effort has been made in recent years by the Ministry of the Interior, by the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy, but also by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy to deal with the problem of water scarcity on a permanent basis”. “The design is multi-layered and comprehensive,” he said characteristically. “At the initiative of the Minister of the Interior, Theodoros Livanios, 11.25 million euros will be spent by the Ministry to support the Municipalities, while the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy will also support our islands with an additional 10 million euros. So” said Mr. Spanakis “more than 21 million euros will be given as emergency aid to deal with the water shortage, while already last year another 18.5 million euros have been given by the Ministry of the Interior”. The intervention, the Deputy Minister clarified, has three levels: “The first is the upgrading of the existing wells. The second is for installing new wells and the third is for leasing desalination units.”

Especially for the Program for Municipalities, amounting to 11.25 million euros, which starts today, Mr. Spanakis said: “The program that started today, August 8, 37 minutes ago and ends on September 30, enables Municipalities, Municipal Businesses and Associations to be able to submit their proposals through the Integrated Information System (ISIS) for upgrading existing wells, for opening new wells as well as for renting desalination units”. At this point the Deputy Minister of the Interior emphasized that “in recent years they have made a significant effort and I congratulate the Mayors, all the officials of the Local Government and the workers in the Local Government who have made a huge effort in a problem which is not only faced by our Country but it is also wider because of the climate crisis. What is a priority for us” stressed Mr. Spanakis “is to be next to the Municipalities, next to their needs”.

For the Citizen Service Centers (CSCs): “Triple modernization of the CSCs all over the country”

“The KEPs are essentially upgraded on three levels: The first level is that we change the equipment, that is, the computers to have higher speeds and faster service. Secondly, we have a change of the information system with a new system and thirdly, we also have a renovation of the stores”, said the Deputy Minister and added that the upgrade is done without burdening the tax-paying citizen. “The money for the upgrade, the triple upgrade of the KEPs” clarified Mr. Spanakis “has come from the Recovery and Resiliency Fund and from the European Economic Area”. On the occasion of the interviews, Mr. Spanakis publicly congratulated the 3,800 employees at KEP, who, as he revealed, “in 2023 processed over 3 million transactions”!

For Gov.gr and pets: “We implement a modern animal welfare policy”

Alongside the upgrading of the KEPs, the Deputy Minister also referred to the enrichment of the Gov.gr application and the data on companion animals in the context of the implementation of a modern animal welfare policy. Specifically, he said that with a Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministries of Interior, Digital Governance and Economy, data from the National Pet Registry is already available through the Gov.gr Wallet. “We have a special provision for companion animals that we apply and we will apply a modern animal welfare policy. Already in the second fortnight of September we will have a meeting with all the deputy mayors responsible for pet issues in each region. We want to record the problems that exist in each region. Today, as we speak, more than 780,000 pets have been registered in the National Register of Companion Animals” and we will intensify our efforts, concluded Mr. Spanakis, in order to significantly reduce the number of stray animals and “this is a great effort in the coming months, the which we will all try to deal with”