Bakoyannis: “The Double Reconstruction is above and beyond parties and factions”

The position of the former Mayor in detail:

“The head of the opposition in the council of the Municipality of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, responded to what Haris Doukas mentioned about him and his faction a few days ago in the Municipal Council, “emphasizing” that this is an unnecessary, unprovoked and toxic attack.

With the unnecessary and unprovoked, toxic attack he launched at the Municipal Council on Wednesday, February 14, against the previous Municipal Authority for the Double Redevelopment project, the Mayor of Athens systematically attempted to distort reality.

In 2019, the Municipal Authority of Kostas Bakoyannis resurrected Botanikos and gave hope, not only to the world of Panathinaikos, but mainly to the city itself and to the residents of a degraded area.

In 2023 it delivered:

1) A mature project at the institutional level, with an update of the legislation in force until 2019, as only with the Presidential Decree in force at the time, the Double Redevelopment could not proceed.

2) Secured and sufficient financing for the projects, amounting to almost 230,000,000 euros.

3) Detailed, signed and ready-to-implement contracts between the involved bodies, with clear roles, obligations and responsibilities.

4) New stadium project contracted and underway, Infrastructure and Greenery projects tendered, Stadium Technical Consultant work tendered and tender documents ready for Infrastructure and Greenery Technical Consultant work.

Far from the impression game, below is the whole truth about this great project, the size and complexity of which exceeds one term and one Mayor and requires everyone’s cooperation.

Full information to the New Municipal Authority from the outgoing administration

Immediately after the elections, on October 31, 2023 and given the importance of the project, at the initiative of Kostas Bakoyannis and in his presence, the working group of the then Municipal Authority met Mr. Doukas and all the agencies involved (PAO, PAE and AEP Eleona) in order to ensure its uninterrupted continuity.

A detailed briefing was given on its course and the subsequent appropriate actions, while Mr. Doukas himself gave credit for the work that has been done, but also his consent to the then existing Municipal Authority to proceed with all the necessary actions (auctions etc), until assuming his duties.

In the same meeting, the then Mayor asked Mr. Doukas to inform him of the new working group that will run the project, with which the outgoing municipal authority would cooperate for its continuation.

Mr. Doukas has done nothing until today, despite the fact that he was asked again by Mr. Bakoyannis, at least twice, after assuming his duties, in the municipal councils that took place on 12-1-24 and 1-24- 24.

Pleading ignorance is not an argument

The General Secretary of the outgoing administration made regular and extensive updates and handed over the complete project file to the new General Secretary, with all actions and procedures (Mr. Doukas admitted, at the January 12 Municipal Council, that he received the file). Also, the involved departments of the Municipality, the City Planning Directorate, the Building Infrastructure Directorate, the Municipal Property Directorate, the Cleaning Directorate, the Road Construction and Sewerage Directorate and the Finance Directorate have a project file. After all, all the administrative acts related to the project have the signature of the officials of the Municipality and have passed through the collective bodies.



Public administration has institutional continuity and we do not need to reinvent the wheel

The “Athens High” Faction urges the new Municipal Authority to show confidence in the most capable executives and services of the Municipality of Athens who have so far proven that they can manage the project. The coordination is always done by the Administration of the Municipality and not by some mechanical god or some non-existent institutional body, which is not provided for in the Internal Service Organization of the Municipality or in the Double Redevelopment legislation.



The Building Permit is not a communication game

The new Municipal Authority should have known that the responsibility for issuing a building permit rests with the contractor of the stadium. The services of the Municipality cannot assure that the license is being issued by the competent department of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in accordance with the legislation prescribed by law.

Decontamination. Why isn’t the refinancing going ahead?

The previous Municipal Authority claimed and received as much money as was available for such projects from European resources (YMEPERAA), at the given time, that is, 5,000,000 euros.

The work is dynamic, with special characteristics. Specifically, among other things, the volume of waste, the huge area, the continuous deposition of other waste, until the contractor takes over and the site is demarcated, as well as the ongoing fires due to combustible materials, must be taken into account.

Therefore, the necessary provision had been made to secure additional funding and the new Municipal Authority had been informed in detail about the required actions, which it had to take. So far he hasn’t done them.

The Technical Consultant waiting for the tender and the non-existent role of the Municipal Authority in coordinating the project

The outgoing Municipal Authority, as agreed with the new Municipal Authority, tendered the work of the Technical Consultant for the stadium and completed the tender document for the Technical Consultant for the green and its infrastructure. The new Municipal Authority can simply press the button. The question is why it doesn’t.

The working group of the previous Municipal Authority had the general control and coordination – as it should have done in such a key project – and used specialized technical consultants (lawyers, technicians, researchers, etc.) at every stage to complete the necessary approvals and tender documents. The existence of an external technical consultant who will coordinate all the projects, substituting the Municipal Authority and the services, is probably a need of the current administration.

Misinformation on the Green and Common Areas Tender and on the Infrastructure Tender

It is questionable, because Mr. Doukas stated that the tenders had not progressed, at the same time that they are in progress. In particular, for the green and common areas tender, the tenders of the contractors have already been submitted and are being checked by the service, while for the infrastructure tender, the tenders will be submitted on March 7.

Double Reconstruction is beyond and above parties and factions

The “Athens High” Faction completely agrees with Mr. Doukas. The project will move forward, no matter how many obstacles we face. After all, we faced the biggest obstacles in the previous four years. When there wasn’t even a perspective, when there wasn’t even a project.

Over and above parties and factions, over and above petty political games, the work to be completed requires work. It requires seriousness. It requires expertise. And above all, it requires the cooperation and contribution of all of us. The faction “Athens High” put this into practice, from scratch until today, building relationships of trust with PAE, Erasitechnis Panathinaikos and APE Elaionas and leaving to the new administration a mature project, ready for implementation. That is why the Mayor’s suspicions about the institutionalized partners of Double Regeneration are clearly counterproductive and regressive.

The Double Regeneration surpasses us all. Let it not become a field of pointless confrontations for what is seen. We declare that we are present to help with all our powers.

Let the new Municipal Authority make the beginning, including the issue of Double Redevelopment in the agenda of the Municipal Council, as it has been repeatedly requested”.