Mitsotakis to SYRIZA: When you have nothing to say, you divide, polarize and throw mud

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited one of the construction sites where work has begun on the construction of the Northern Road Axis of Crete, which will connect Kissamos, on the western edge of Crete, with Sitia on the east, in the morning, as part of his tour of Heraklion Regional Unit.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the progress on the Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos section, one of the five sections of the new 14km motorway, which was contracted last September and is now becoming a reality through a €186m public investment, fully funded of the Recovery Fund.

“I believe that this construction site that you see open behind us is the best answer that our government can give to this toxicity that the official opposition is once again trying to cultivate”, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had the opportunity to chat with employees.

“When you have nothing to say to the citizens about how you envision the future, but when you can’t even defend your past because it brings up extremely painful memories, then you end up doing the only thing you know how to do: divide, polarize and try to drag the country’s political life into the mud. We will not follow this path. We will insist until the last moment to implement our government work: we will create new jobs, we will implement major projects throughout Greece, as we already do, and we will speak to the Greek people about our plan for a future, with more and better jobs and better incomes for all Greek men and women”, said the Prime Minister.

BOAK: A breathing project for Crete

“It is a vital project for Crete, it is an important road safety project so that we mourn fewer lives on the asphalt. It is a project that signals the bright future that our island has”, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis about the new road axis, which will extend with a single alignment for a length of approximately 300 kilometers and will connect the western end of Crete with the eastern.

“It is an emblematic work, a breathing work, I would say a work which has a special meaning for me, for my island, for my place. A project that we believed in from the first moment, which we managed to unblock, to build in a way to make it sustainable, because I want to remind you that we basically received a clinically dead project.

So today here, on the other side of Crete, from Lasithi, the first part of this great project, which still has two major phases, begins. This part is being built as a public project with funding exclusively from the Recovery Fund and there are two more sections of the Northern Road Axis which will be built. One with the public-private partnership method and the second with the concession contract.

The tender procedures are very advanced. There is great interest in the participation of important schemes in these competitions. And today we can say with absolute certainty that, yes, the Northern Road Axis that actually starts today will be built, will be implemented”, pointed out the Prime Minister.

“Today is a very important, I would tell you a very historic day for Crete. Because after many decades we are at the first construction site of BOAK”, noted the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Karamanlis.

The budget for all the projects exceeds 2.4 billion euros, while community funding has already been secured from the Recovery Fund and the NSRF.

In addition to the radical upgrade of road safety in Crete, BOAK will facilitate travel, for the benefit of citizens, tourism and commerce, while at the same time it will stimulate employment on the island.

The implementation of the project was made possible thanks to great and persistent efforts, as in the summer of 2019 there was only an ungrounded plan, with zero study maturity and without a specific single outline or financing plan.

The progress that has been achieved is reflected in the Neapolis – Agios Nikolaos section, while the two largest sections of the BOAK are close to contracting, the section from Chania to Heraklion, which will be implemented through a concession contract, and the section from Komvos Hersonisos to Neapolis, which will be built through PPP.

Alongside the new road projects, studies are also maturing for the connection between Souda and Chania airport, while a portfolio of seven projects is underway, four of which have been completed, to prevent landslides in targeted locations.

The Prime Minister was welcomed by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Karamanlis and the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Giorgos Karagiannis. He was accompanied by the Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy and MP for Lasithi of the New Democracy Yiannis Plakiotakis, Deputy Minister of Sports and MP for Heraklion of the ND Lefteris Avgenakis, MP for Heraklion of the ND Maximos Senetakis, MP for Rethymno of the ND Yiannis Kefalogiannis, MEP of the ND Yannis Manolis Kefalognis , the Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis, the Secretary of the Political Committee of the ND Pavlos Marinakis and the Secretary of Organization and Director of the Office of the President of the ND, Stelios Kontadakis.

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