Work on Garitsa shore road in danger of being stopped
Garitsa
06 Jun 2022
/ 18:31
CORFU. There is not much time left for the repair of the Garitsa shore road. The exemption from the environmental conditions, which was the main obstacle when it came to the implementation of the project, will expire on 20 June.
The contract for the implementation of the project for the repair of the Garitsa shore road from the Desyllas factory to Anemomylos is currently being examined by the Court of Auditors.
However, there is not much time left for the repair work to finally start, as the exemption from the environmental conditions, which was the main obstacle for the Ionian Islands Region when it came to the implementation of the project, will expire on 20 June.
The deadline is particularly tight. If the Court of Auditors does not give the go-ahead in the next few days, the six-month exemption from the environmental conditions will be lost and the project will then have to be carried out under the previous time-consuming procedure, i.e. it will have to be approved by the 13 responsible Ministries.
“If the exemption from the environmental conditions cannot be extended, then it will have to be carried out with the usual procedure, which requires the involvement of 13 responsible Ministries. It is impossible to implement the project and get it done. For its implementation we are using an article, which is basically for urgent projects.
After six months, we do not know if this exemption can be extended. It is worth noting that for this section there is an environmental study but because the article calls for an exemption we proceeded to the necessary procedures," the Deputy Regional Governor for Infrastructure and Technical Works Manolis Orphanoudakis told Enimerosi.
Complaints
People, however, are complaining about this situation every day, while there had also been minor accidents with passersby. In several places the pavement has also collapsed and people need to be careful. "The Region has to deal with this huge issue even though it is not responsible for it.
We are in this situation because the project has been stopped. The work was carried out up to the Desyllas junction and from there nothing else happened. There was a period during which the whole Garitsa Bay was owned by the Corfu Port Authority (OLKE). Nothing was done in the next six months, which were critical, and that made the situation worse.
Then, the Garitsa shorefront was declassified and passed to the Municipal Land Agency, i.e. to the Ministry of Finance - something that makes the procedure very difficult," explained Mr. Orphanoudakis.
However, there is not much time left for the repair work to finally start, as the exemption from the environmental conditions, which was the main obstacle for the Ionian Islands Region when it came to the implementation of the project, will expire on 20 June.
The deadline is particularly tight. If the Court of Auditors does not give the go-ahead in the next few days, the six-month exemption from the environmental conditions will be lost and the project will then have to be carried out under the previous time-consuming procedure, i.e. it will have to be approved by the 13 responsible Ministries.
“If the exemption from the environmental conditions cannot be extended, then it will have to be carried out with the usual procedure, which requires the involvement of 13 responsible Ministries. It is impossible to implement the project and get it done. For its implementation we are using an article, which is basically for urgent projects.
After six months, we do not know if this exemption can be extended. It is worth noting that for this section there is an environmental study but because the article calls for an exemption we proceeded to the necessary procedures," the Deputy Regional Governor for Infrastructure and Technical Works Manolis Orphanoudakis told Enimerosi.
Complaints
People, however, are complaining about this situation every day, while there had also been minor accidents with passersby. In several places the pavement has also collapsed and people need to be careful. "The Region has to deal with this huge issue even though it is not responsible for it.
We are in this situation because the project has been stopped. The work was carried out up to the Desyllas junction and from there nothing else happened. There was a period during which the whole Garitsa Bay was owned by the Corfu Port Authority (OLKE). Nothing was done in the next six months, which were critical, and that made the situation worse.
Then, the Garitsa shorefront was declassified and passed to the Municipal Land Agency, i.e. to the Ministry of Finance - something that makes the procedure very difficult," explained Mr. Orphanoudakis.
