Karamanlis for BOAK: We are implementing the largest new motorway in Europe

In the auction of the road connection Neapoli – Ag. Nikolaos of the Northern Road Axis of Crete was mentioned by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Kostas Karamanlis, during his presentation to the Production and Trade Committee of the Parliament, saying that when he had declared last November that the auction would go ahead, many thought that it was another promise without retort, just as the previous government was used to.

“We, however, are not the same, and we do what we say,” emphasized Mr. Karamanlis, underlining that “we have received a problematic and well-planned project, and within a very short period of time we are putting it into practice.”

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport said emphatically: “At this moment, a dream of many years is coming true. Were there any mistakes? They have been. We too may have made mistakes and we are here to deal with them.

Did SYRIZA take this project seriously to any extent? Yes. But beyond that, he only took the first step, he only told us the architecture of the project and then he didn’t say where he would find the money,” he stressed.

At the same time, Mr. Karamanlis asked SYRIZA to admit in his turn that “he had not foreseen a plan, nor timetables, nor funding”. At the same time, the minister noticed that in SYRIZA there are conflicting opinions regarding the specific project. “Today, the masks fell,” he said, stressing that “we saw two aspects of SYRIZA, we saw Mr. Polakis’ SYRIZA with his divisive and contentious speech, and on the other hand, we saw Mr. Xanthou’s SYRIZA who asked serious questions.”

The total cost of the project amounts to 157 million euros and its duration in 36 months.

Referring specifically to the project, Mr. Karamanlis informed the Parliament that the tender of the section Neapoli – Ag. Nikolaos refers to the improvement and widening of the existing section into a four-lane artery with two traffic lanes and a two-lane road in each direction, and a separated traffic deck. “In simpler words, we are turning the existing road into a modern highway that will meet all road safety standards,” he said.

Regarding the financing of the project, Mr. Karamanlis pointed out that “this project has not been done for so many years because it did not have financing, while now it is being auctioned with financing secured.” It is a project with a length of 14 kilometers and a budgeted cost – including VAT – of 186 million euros, which is part of the Recovery Fund. At the same time, the project has provided – as an option in favor of the State – the improvement of the cross-section and geometry of the Old National Road Neapolis – Ag. Nikolaou, for serving the traffic during the construction of the highway and accompanying works.

4 companies participated in this tender, of which Aktoras was appointed as the temporary contractor with a discount rate of 7.10% without any pre-trial appeal and on June 10 the Audit Court gave its approval for the signing of the relevant contract. Therefore, the total cost of the project is 157 million euros, while its duration, i.e. the construction period, was set at 36 months. “The construction sites will start work on this section by the end of September,” he stressed.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport also referred to the other sections of the BOAK, noting that the Hersonissos – Neapoli section, which will be done with PPP, has also been included in the Recovery Fund and there is already a temporary contractor. “In this way, with the Public Private Partnership, the project is maintained while otherwise, as history has taught us, public projects are not maintained.”

As regards the Kissamos – Chania – Heraklion section, whose tender is in progress, the environmental study is expected, in order to move to the final phase of the submission of tenders. “Our goal is to announce the contractor at the beginning of 2023 and then to proceed with the concession contract,” emphasized Mr. Karamanlis.

The BOAK has started to be implemented and this is solely due to the current government

Referring to the progress of the project’s implementation, Mr. Karamanlis noted that “the project has started to be implemented and this is solely due to the current government” stressing that “BOAK is no longer a simple pencil on the map”.

“The work of BOAK is not just a thought found in the theory of proclamations. Our aim is to have construction sites on the project by the beginning of January” he pointed out and added that “we have already started implementing the largest new motorway currently under construction in Europe”. “It is very easy to announce projects without design, as BOAK did not have, to announce projects without funding, as BOAK did not have, and without a specific schedule,” he said.

And he went on to emphasize that “we secured funding for such a large and complex project utilizing both the NSRF resources and the Recovery Fund opportunity, we shaped the final design of the project, advanced its study maturity and shaped a project schedule”.

Referring to tolls, he emphasized that “we are not going to be popular and say that we will not impose tolls, because there is no Concession Agreement without tolls in any case”.

He pointed out that the specific project will give an incredible development perspective to an island with enormous potential. Mr. Karamanlis noted that with this particular project we are ensuring road safety, speed in transportation, local development, strengthening tourism and jobs.

Giorgos Karagiannis: BOAK was the most important project requested by Crete

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for infrastructure, Giorgos Karagiannis emphasized during his intervention: “BOAK has always been the most important project requested by Crete, a project that everyone discussed but always remained on paper. The difference between our own work and what was done in the past is that we finally operated with private sector criteria and moved the project forward.” He spoke of “significant progress” in all three projects, detailing:

· For the public project of Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos, we immediately sign the contracting contracts.

· For the big project Chania – Heraklion, just last week we got the environmental permit, a process that lasted for more than 1 year.

· While the Hersonissos – Neapolis section, which is implemented through PPP, already has a temporary contractor and by the end of the year we will see construction sites there as well.

“However, we do not stop here” continued Mr. Karagiannis and referred to the next steps regarding BOAK. “The studies for the part of the Concession Agreement option, Kissamos – Chania, are being completed and in the fall we will be ready to submit the EIA there as well. The studies for the sections east of Agios Nikolaos are also progressing, with a target of completion at the end of 2022, so that the final decisions on the financing of the projects can be made then. So you understand that we did what we promised,” he noted.

Codifying the developments in BOAK within three years, Mr. Karagiannis pointed out: “In 2021 we tendered, in 2022 construction sites are being set up and in 2023 the whole project will be in full development. It took 3 years of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, so that things could be done in BOAK that had not been done for decades in Crete”.

As he explained, this was also the reason why “the treatment of the local community was particularly positive, inaugurating a new approach between citizens and politicians. We implement every day the agreement of truth that we promised before the election. The world has both understanding and judgement.”

RES-EMP

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