Thessaly is a priority for the government of the ND, due to the problems it faces after the natural disasters that hit the region, emphasized the Minister of Rural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis in an interview on SKAI radio, on the show “Diary”, by Pavlos Tsimas.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications emphasized that the problems are such that there is no room for any delay and for this reason the Prime Minister today, as well as himself tomorrow, have invited the newly elected Regional Governor Dimitris Kouretas to be informed about the measures taken by the government, the implementation of which requires the contribution of the Region.

In this logic, of the need not to waste time, the statements he had made the previous Thursday, after the presentation of the measures for the reconstruction of the primary sector in Thessaly, were moved, as he said.

We did not link compensation to the “color” of the electedsaid the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, who had linked the speed of implementation of the measures to the continuity of the administration.

“The newly elected governor must get into the rhythm. He needs to take responsibility. There is no luxury of delay. It personally hurts my heart to see thousands of acres of production flooded. We don’t have time.”

In pointing out that with what he said he urged the voters to vote for Kostas Agorastos, Lefteris Avgenakis pointed out that we should not pretend, since Kostas Agorastos was a candidate who was supported by the ND and the government has the ND as its party vehicle. But Kyriakos Mitsotakis also fought the pre-election battle as president of the ND. “Kostas Agrastos was not elected. What does this mean, that we will retaliate? For God’s sake! There are people who are troubled and suffering,” he noted. And he emphasized that the government is determined to work with all elected officials, regardless of their party identity.

He even recalled that he, as Deputy Minister of Sports, had worked with the newly elected mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, who was a member of the Olympic Committee as a representative of the Handball Federation, and also with Dimitris Kouretas, who was a member of the Anti-Doping Committee.

To the question of whether it will be affected the food chain from the disasters in Thessaly, the Ministry of Health noted that 1,100,000 acres were flooded and that in Thessaly there is 23% of plant and 18% of animal production. However, most of the flooded areas are cotton fields and cotton is an exported industrial product. He said there would be a slight disruption to grain production, but there was no question of a shortage of fruit and vegetables, calling the rise in prices immediately after the floods a disgrace. He also characterized as false what was written about the need to pass five years for the restoration of the lands or for the contamination of the sea waters, stressing that the scientific measurements of ELGO – DIMITRA show otherwise. He said many of the lands are ready for cultivation next season while others will require “minor treatments” to make the necessary improvements to restore them. He even announced that ELGO DIMITRA seminars will soon begin in Thessaly, so that growers, livestock breeders and beekeepers will be informed about how to deal with the problems created by the theomanias.

Finally, he characterized the problem in Karla as a big one and said that a special support program is being planned for the farmers of the area, since, due to the flood, they have no land to cultivate.