O Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Yiannis Oikonomou, met at noon on Tuesday (28/11), at the Ministry, with new Regional Governor of Attica, Mr. Nikos Hardalia.

The meeting confirmed the agreement of the Minister and the Regional Governor for close cooperation, in order to consolidate the feeling of security and to promote the quality of life and everyday life of the citizens of the Basin.

Strengthening visible and effective policing in Attica, through the use of technology with the installation of cameras, are a clear priority and a stated government policy.

In the discussion, priority was given to traffic, which is related to the quality of life of the residents, where the cooperation and assistance of the Region was requested in improvements and technical interventions, in the field of its competences, in order to alleviate the problem found in Kifissos and the main arterial roads on the basis of consensus on the Ministry’s holistic plan for road safety.

The Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Yiannis Oikonomou, stated:

“I had the pleasure of welcoming today my good friend and elected Regional Governor of Attica, Mr. Hardalia. We had an excellent discussion, in which we found complete agreement on the areas in which we must cooperate, in the field of our responsibilities, and on the tools that we must provide as a whole as a Government – and we must also assist as the Ministry of Citizen Protection – so that the Region to play out its metropolitan character in matters of citizen security, but also of the citizen’s everyday life.

I explained to the elected District Governor our plan and priorities for strengthening visible policing in Attica, the use of technology, the cameras we want to have in the next period of time so that they can assist policing.

Of course, we also discussed the issue of traffic, the suffering faced by our fellow citizens on the central roads and in particular, in Kifissos. We asked for the cooperation and assistance of the Region in improvements, in technical interventions that must be done so that each of them, from their own meter, contributes in order to alleviate this problem and I found with great joy that from the first day that the new regional Authority takes up its duties, the Regional Governor has already done the preparation and planning so that we can very soon respond to the challenges we face.

The Region of Attica and the Ministry of Citizen Protection, in the issues that have to do with safety and the quality of life in everyday life, in the field of our responsibilities, we will cooperate closely in the next period”.

The Regional Governor of Attica, Mr. Nikos Hardalias, stated:

“We had an excellent first discussion with my good friend and Minister of Citizen Protection, Yiannis Oikonomou on matters concerning the largest Region of the country and one of the largest in Europe. There are areas of great importance and enormous potential for cooperation. Our will and desire is to support the effort made by the Greek Police.

Security issues are issues of immediate priority for the Region of Attica and for the new Regional Authority. When I talk about safety I don’t just mean crime but also issues related to safety from natural disasters, safety from health hazards such as litter and safety on our roads.

Traffic is a big issue, and we have already started a first collaboration for a part of it that concerns Kifissos and beyond.

With the new architecture and the new tools we want to have as a Region and with the government realizing the importance of moving forward with the necessary legislative arrangements, we will be ready. We will be efficient and step by step we will structure those procedures that put an end to the suffering and insecurity of the residents of Lekanopedi”.