What went wrong again, and why did we miss the boat?
The billions were there, the needs were clear, and the deadlines were known. So why wasn’t Corfu ready for the projects it needed most?
At least €43 million went to clearly identified projects in the Ionian Islands, out of a national €18.2 billion package in grants. The comparison is not entirely straightforward, since a significant portion of the Recovery Fund concerns horizontal measures that are not allocated geographically. The question, however, remains.
Why did we miss the boat yet again?
The Ionian Islands did not discover their problems yesterday. Corfu did not suddenly realise in 2021 that it was running short of water. The roads did not deteriorate when the Recovery Fund was announced. The waste crisis had already cost millions and had put the island in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
And yet, when the biggest emergency funding opportunity in decades emerged, the major projects that could have transformed everyday life on the islands were not sufficiently advanced to be included and completed within the deadlines.
The responsibility here is longstanding—and shared.
The central government often plans from Athens, without adequately taking into account the realities of island communities and the huge seasonal pressure placed on infrastructure. The Region has, over the years, failed to build a strong pipeline of mature, large-scale projects. Municipalities, under pressure from day-to-day demands and often lacking adequate technical services, chase funding calls when they open rather than having fully prepared project files ready to go.
And so the same story keeps repeating itself: we have needs, we have demands, we have announcements—but not always the studies, permits and tenders to back them up.
The Recovery Fund did indeed impose extremely tight deadlines. It could not fund everything. But that is precisely why those who were ready were the ones who benefited.
So the question is not only what was lost.
It is whether we have finally learned something from it.
Do the Ionian Islands now have a dossier of the ten major projects for the next decade, fully studied and licensed?
Because the next funding boat will come along too.
And then we will not be entitled to say that we didn’t hear it coming.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
