By Penelope Galliou

With the central goal, from the time remaining until the 2027 polls, not a single day or hour is lost for the implementation of the government project, a barrage of meetings has already begun at the Maximos Palace, twenty-four hours after the Prime Minister’s presence at the TIF, in order to launch but also to monitor the progress of the measures and announcements made by Kyriakos Mitsotakis from Thessaloniki.

The thread of the conclusions was cut by inter-ministerial meeting held yesterday at Megaros Maximosunder the prime minister, with the aim of implementing the “Marietta Giannakou” program for the renovation of school facilities.

This is a new €250 million program to refurbish hundreds of schools, which are in need of repair and renovation. “We are not talking about shocking changes, but painting, plastering, toilets, sports facilities” explained the Prime Minister during his speech at TIF. The funds for the program – as announced – will come from the Public Investment Programwhile the government’s goal is to increase this amount significantly, through a call for private sponsorships and donations that could support the project. “Because I’ll say it again: the time has come for the rich of this country to shoulder a greater share of responsibility in the reconstruction of the homeland, as all the great benefactors of the past did,” commented Mr. Mitsotakis.

During the meeting in which all the co-competent ministers participated (the Minister of the Interior Thodoris Livanios, the Minister of Education, Religion and Sports Kyriakos Pierrakakisthe Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras, the Minister of State Akis Skertsos, the Deputy Minister of Finance Nikos Papathanasis, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Representative Pavlos Marinakis and the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Giorgos Mylonakis) the main needs of the school units were examined and it was agreed to prepare an analytical database, where within the next month, in cooperation with the Local Government, the data required for the start of the projects will be recorded, with target the required works to start in early 2025.

The upgrade of bathrooms in schools, sports facilities and plastering of other facilities was considered an absolute priority.

The main implementing body of the program will be the public limited company “Building Infrastructure” of the Greek State, which has gained significant experience in repairing damages caused to schools in Thessaly by the bad weather “Daniel”.

Corresponding meetings at the Maximos Palace are expected to follow in the coming days in order to launch all the priorities related to the daily life of citizens and touch sensitive areas from health to family and entrepreneurship. In this context, today there will be a meeting of the Prime Minister with the leadership of the Ministry of Health, so that, tomorrow Wednesday, the interview of the Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiadis, together with Irini Agapidakis and the Mario Themistocleous on the specialization of the measures for the incomes of the workers in the National Social Security System and the main three-year reform objectives.

For the government, moreover, the health sector should be listed among its main priorities, knowing that at the moment there is a concern of the citizens, from which “diseases” and weaknesses of the NHS are often highlighted. It is therefore sought, through the new measures and reforms that it will promote in the next period, to judge at the end of the three years, in 2027, whether the country will then really have a new NSH worthy of the citizens’ expectations.

On Thursday, a press conference on family support has also been scheduled, with a focus on the measures for the demographic issue, the reform of social benefits and the support of working parents through a better combination of professional and family life, with all the co-authors ministers (S. Zacharakis, N. Kerameos, K. Pierrakakis, A. Georgiadis, Th. Petralias)

In addition, the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sophia Zaharakitogether with the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis, on Friday will also specify the new measures to deal with the housing issue.

Finally, on Monday (16/9) the Ministers K. Hatzidakis, N. Papathanasis, K. Tsiaras, T. Theodorikakos, O. Kefalogianni will grant a press conference specializing in measures to support entrepreneurship and business productivity in the primary sector, in manufacturing and tourism.