A general meeting on the flood protection of the Attica region was held today at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, under the minister, Vassilis Kikilia.

The focus of the meeting was on the responsibilities and coordination of all the involved bodies regarding the anti-flood shielding of the Attica region. At the same time, Mr. Kikilias announced a new meeting next week with the participation of the concessionaires.

“Today was a very important meeting – under the coordination of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection – to see mainly what has to do with Attica, where the national flood protection projects are located, for which the Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible, to let’s look at the flood protection projects at the district level and what the municipalities have to do and how this will be coordinated as a whole. It is not at all an easy equation because as you know for large and heavy projects there are time-consuming procedures, there are audit conferences, objections and appeals, State Councils etc. In any case, the job of the Civil Protection and the organized state is to protect the citizens. So all this effort must be coordinated and as fast as possible”, said the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, after thanking the Minister and Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras and Nikos Tahiao, the Minister of Environment and of Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis, as well as the Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Athanasios Kontogeorgis, for their participation in the meeting.

Mr. Kikilias also pointed out that the services and the cooperation between them at a high level are useful in terms of urgency.

“Which is the most urgent and the fastest to deal with? It is the cleaning of the bed of Kifissos, the streams throughout Attica, the wells from the point of view of municipalities. And of course, with the disasters of recent years from the big fires and the big floods that we have seen outside of Attica. But if you remember, in 2021 the road at the level of the lower part of Kifissos had to be closed at some point due to flooding. All this must be taken into account, coordinated and there must be someone to push, in order for them to run forward. Once again I thank my colleagues” noted Mr. Kikilias and announced that on Wednesday 29/11 a similar meeting will be held with the participation of the concessionaires.

“Next Wednesday there will be a similar meeting with all concessionaires regarding how we operate now and for the snow and the months to come. Salt shakers, snow removal, where and who has the authority, the Greek Police, the Traffic and so on” he said characteristically. In conclusion, Mr. Kikilias asked citizens to follow the instructions given by Civil Protection whenever there are emergencies, but also through the 112 tool. “These instructions are also important in critical situations, because you see that the climate crisis it is here and, unfortunately, it gives rise to more and more intense phenomena. Prevention, proper information, listening to the experts, the Police, the Fire Brigade, Civil Protection, save lives. So that we can protect ourselves and our families”, Mr. Kikilias pointed out.

The meeting was attended by, among others, the political leadership of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, the Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Athanasios Kontogeorgis, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, the regional governor of Attica, Giorgos Patoulis, as well as officials of the Civil Protection and the Fire Brigade.