One of the construction sites, where work has begun on the construction of the axis of the northern road of Crete, which will connect Kissamos in the western outskirts of Crete with Sitia in the east, was visited by the Prime Minister this morning. Kyriakos Mitsotakisas part of his tour of the Heraklion region.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the progress of work on the Neapolis-Agios Nikolaos section, one of the five sections of the new 22 km motorway, the contract for which was awarded last September and is now becoming a reality thanks to a public investment of 186 million euros, fully financed from recovery funds. Fund.

Referring to the major development project of Crete, Mr. Mitsotakis noted that it is a breathing project “that we got clinically dead”, as he characteristically said, specifying that the government believed in it from the very beginning, unblocked it and “actually starts today”.

“Today we can say with absolute certainty that yes, BOAK will come true, it is a life project for Crete and a road safety project so that we mourn less lives on the pavement. This is a project that signals a bright future for our island. I believe that this construction site is the best answer our government can give to this toxicity, which the official opposition is once again trying to cultivate,” he said.

“When you have nothing to say to citizens about how you imagine the future, but you can’t even defend your past because it brings up extremely painful memories, then you end up doing the only thing you know – divide, polarize and try to trample into the political life of the country. We will not go down this path. We will insist until the last moment on doing our public work: we will create new jobs, we will implement major projects throughout Greece, as we already do, and we will talk to the Greek people about our plan for the future, with more and better jobs and better incomes for all Greek men and women,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, among others.

The Prime Minister, accompanied by a large government echelon, was greeted at the construction site by the regional governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, the mayors of Agios Nikolaos, Antonis Zervos and Sitia, Giorgos Zervakis, representatives of the Crete Development Organization, local authorities and ordinary citizens.

What the prime minister said about BOAC

“This is a vital project for Crete, this is an important road safety project for us to mourn for fewer lives on the tarmac. This is a project that signals a bright future for our island,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis about the new axis of the road, which will stretch in one line for a length of approximately 300 kilometers and connect the western tip of Crete with the eastern one.

“This is a symbolic work, a breathing work, I would say, a work that has a special meaning for me, for my island, for my place. A project that we believed in from the first moment that we managed to unlock, build in a way that is sustainable, because I want to remind you that we actually received a clinically dead project. So, today here, on the other side of Crete, from Lassithi, the first part of this great project begins, which still consists of two main stages. This section is being built as a public project with funding solely from the Recovery Fund, and there are two more sections of the Northern Axis road to be built. One with the public-private partnership method and the second with a concession agreement.

Tender procedures are very advanced. There is great interest in the participation of important circuits in these competitions. And today we can say with absolute certainty that yes, the Northern Road, which actually starts today, will be built and implemented,” the Prime Minister said.

Karamanlis: Today is a historic day for Crete

“Today is a very important, I would say, historic day for Crete. Because many decades later, we are at the first construction site of the BOAC,” Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Karamanlis said.

“Mr. President, we welcome you to your island and thank you for making this project a reality thanks to your hard work. And I explain. Where we are today, in these 22 kilometers, a project with a budget of 189 million euros, which will be completed in the next three years, is the goal that we have set for ourselves. All of this work was funded by the Recovery Fund. And we all know that if it were not for the Prime Minister, this project would not have received funding. So I think today we are really turning the page on the beautiful island of Crete. Many thanks”.

It is noted that the budget of all projects exceeds 2.4 billion euros, and community funding has already been secured from the Recovery Fund and NSRF.

In addition to drastically improving road safety in Crete, BOAK will facilitate travel for the benefit of citizens, tourism and trade, while at the same time boosting employment on the island.

According to government sources, the implementation of the project was made possible through great and persistent efforts, since in the summer of 2019 there was only a non-territorial plan, with zero conceptual maturity and without a specific unified outline or financing plan.

The progress made is reflected in the section Naples – Agios Nikolaos, while the two largest sections of BOAC are close to awarding a contract: the section from Chania to Heraklion, which will be implemented on the basis of a concession agreement, and the section from the Hersoniss crossing to Neapolis, which will be built through PPP .

Along with new road projects, studies are also being developed for a link between Souda and Chania Airport, while a portfolio of seven projects, four of which have already been completed, are underway to prevent landslides at targeted locations.

At the new airport in Castelli

As a result of the visit, the Prime Minister visited the construction site of the new international airport in Castelli, stressing that the project would be completed on time.

“The progress made is impressive. We are talking about the largest construction site in our country, we are talking about one of the largest airports under construction in Europe, an airport that will eventually be larger than originally planned. And that’s because we have to anticipate and take into account the very positive developments that have taken place since the airport was originally planned,” he stressed.

Mr. Mitsotakis further said: “According to the schedules we have set, Crete will have a modern airport in the next century. It is unthinkable to talk about the development of the island without a modern airport and without a modern highway. When completed, the airport will be an architectural gem as well as a beacon of development.”

Mr. Mitsotakis was welcomed to the construction site of the new international airport by Minoa Mayor Pidiados Manolis Fragakis, TERNA officials, Metropolitan Arkalochori, Kastelios and Viannos, Andreas and local authorities.

With information from APE-MPE