Two possible scenarios for development of sea front and NAOK

Mr. Hatzidakis presented two scenarios for the town's sea front to Mr. Gikas. And the latter, already exposed by his numerous announcements that the issue was resolved, though it wasn't, called the presidents of KGS and NAOK to inform them. The Deputy Minister of Shipping, in his capacity as an MP for Corfu, referred to the two versions of the solution to the puzzle regarding the sea front, in order to satisfy the Sailing Club as well.

The pool at NAOK is expected to be built right on top of the historic swimming pool.

The first scenario refers to the transfer of the entire sea front from the Public Real Estate Corporation to Central Corfu Municipality, excluding, of course, Kontra Fossa, which is part of the Old Fortress. As for NAOK’s facilities, the Minister of Economy and Finance argued that they could be the subject of a long-term programmatic agreement between the Municipality and NAOK, renewing the possibility for its facilities to remain there for many years.

The second scenario involves the transfer of the sea front to the Municipality, but without the NAOK area, which would be transferred separately (perhaps simultaneously?) to the Club, recognising its historical presence there, with the provision that it would continue to remain and operate. This scenario is further supported by the creation of the Olympic-sized swimming pool, right where the Club's historic swimming pool is currently located.

As is well known, the study for the pool has been assigned to DEPAN, and the timeline for its completion and delivery is expected to be exhausted within the next few days. What is worrying, given the radio silence from both the designer and the supervising Deputy Mayor of Technical Services, A. Kardonas, is that during the discussion between the presidents and the Deputy Minister, the possibility was mentioned that the swimming pool sub-project might be 'bridged' into the next funding programme that has just opened. This would mean that we shouldn't expect anything until the end of August. This concern is further supported by journalistic reports from the Ministry of Culture, which no one has contacted. We would have learned something if Ms. Mendoni had come here, but she didn’t!

This is exactly what has been under construction for months at Alykes Potamos for the erection of the KGS indoor gymnasium, a sub-project along with the swimming pool at NAOK, as part of a single construction project.

The fate of the sea front was also discussed in yesterday's (Thursday) meeting between Mayor Stefanos Poulimenos and SYRIZA MP, Alekos Avlonitis. During the discussion, the two men, without having any official information, agreed to include the issue on their collaboration agenda so they could jointly pursue the resolution of Corfu's pending issues with the ministries and the services of the national government.

As for the matter at hand, the mayor speculated that the situation in Igoumenitsa could be repeated, meaning the transfer of the sea front to the Central Corfu Municipality might be bundled with the (sub)concession of part of the port to a private entity, specifically for the construction and operation of a mega yacht marina.

However, both seemed unaware of the related initiatives taken by the Deputy Minister of Shipping, Stefanos Gikas, on the matter.

GIORGOS KATSAITIS