Bakoyannis on SKAI: These are the new lights that are being installed on the streets of Athens – Watch video

The new high-energy-efficiency LED lamps, which after decades replace the old technology and energy-consuming lamps, were presented today by the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, during his interview with SKAI and the journalists Christos Koutras and Yiannis Dsounos.

The Mayor of Athens referred to the large program of modernization and upgrading of the capital’s electric lighting network – which foresees the installation of approximately 45,000 new lighting fixtures – which, as he characteristically stated, “constitutes the second largest project of the Municipality of Athens after the Panathinaikos stadium, with a budget of 55 million euro”.

“On the one hand you see a lamp from the 20th century and on the other from the 21st. We have started to replace the old light fixtures and have already upgraded the lighting on the busy Patision Street. The new lamps are lighter, while they also have a special chip, through which all the automations work. This means, in practice, that when a light bulb burns out, citizens will no longer need to call the services of the Municipality in order to register the problem, because the technical crews will be automatically informed by the digital system” said Kostas Bakoyannis.

In fact, the new, modern municipal lighting also puts a stop to the time-consuming procedures that for decades made the daily work of the services more difficult, allowing greater autonomy in the Municipality. “Until now, if we wanted to turn on or turn off the city’s lights, we had to contact DEDDIE, which turned them on or off all together. Today, with the new lighting, we have the possibility to turn them on or off according to neighborhoods, areas or streets”, noted the Mayor, adding that the new lamps provide better quality lighting -almost twice as much light compared to the old ones-, driving at the same time saving energy costs of the order of 65%.

Based on the planning of the Municipality of Athens, the project will be completed by the end of 2023, while the Mayor estimated that the approximately 55 million euros invested today for the new street lighting will be repaid in seven to ten years, reaping significant benefits for Athens and its inhabitants.

We propose a change in loading and unloading hours in Athens

Referring to tourism, the city’s operation and endurance, the Mayor of Athens said the following: “Athens can withstand tourism, but in order to withstand more we will have to change too. And this is related not only to the infrastructure, but also to the operation of the city. Let me give you a simple example. Loading and unloading hours. The Municipality of Athens officially says that from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. no truck, big or small, should be allowed to enter the city center. We have also already made proposals for tourist buses.

For the ban on entry of Apostle Tzizikostas to Turkey

The Mayor of Athens, when asked to comment on the statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu regarding the incident with the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikosta, said: “I am very sorry, really, because the Turkish government lost an opportunity today. The Turkish foreign minister could have come out and said the following very simply. Wrong, sorry, Mr. Tzitzikostas is welcome, we invite him to come to Polis or Izmir. Unfortunately, this did not happen,” said Kostas Bakoyiannis, pointing out that this attitude is against Turkish public opinion.

“Before I went to Turkey, I read the polls that said 65%, 70% of Turks want good relations with the Greeks. And when I went, I realized the following, that there are other faces, the other aspects of Turkey. There is the Municipality of Istanbul, my friend Ekrem Imamoglou. There is my friend, the Mayor of Smyrna. Both were very clear that all this is something unacceptable, something unnecessary, something incomprehensible.”

The Mayor of Athens conveyed his own image from the response of the Turkish citizens during the inauguration of the “B 40” park in Istanbul, which he held together with his Turkish counterpart Ekrem Imamoglou. “During my greeting I made it clear that we are in favor of peace and cooperation, but at the same time that we are against nationalism, revisionism, patriotism, threats, etc. The people applauded. So here, we all have a chance together and this chance we must not throw away. Therefore, when we say Turkey, we must recognize that yes, there is a government, there is a president, but there is also the people.”

For political news and follow-ups

Asked about the case of surveillance, the Mayor of Athens pointed out that the political life of the place should not be dragged into this “mud” and this is the responsibility of everyone, not only the Government.

“Composure. Composure. Composure. Firstly, we must not under any circumstances – and this does not only concern the government, it concerns all of us – let the political life of the country be dragged into this “mud” until the elections. Secondly, we must all together do everything we can to clarify the case immediately. And I say this, because you know better than I do, that similar cases in previous years were lost somewhere in the depths of the bureaucracy. Thirdly, any changes that need to be made in the institutional framework, should be made with cross-party consensus. And fourth, to remember, because no one was born yesterday, that when we put the “mud in the fan”, it is wrong to think that some win and some lose. In reality we all lose. And the only one who benefits is the ‘shark in the bow tie’, who is somewhere in a corner laughing.”

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