2024-05-10 21:26:33
Ioannina could be a model of “decentralized” development for other cities in the country, if supported with infrastructure and targeted measures, according to Stefanos Kasselakis, who visited the city for the first time after assuming the leadership of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance.
Shortly before the opening of the party’s pre-election booth and his speech, the head of the official opposition visited the City Hall and the Chamber of Ioannina, accompanied by local party officials.
“Ioannina shows a direction towards progress and can become a model for other cities”, he noted in a statement immediately after his meeting with the president Makis Chrysostomou and the members of the Steering Committee of the Chamber of Ioannina, where he referred to the issues put to him both by the professionals and by the mayor of Ioannina, Thomas Bega.
The autonomy of self-government, the possibility of municipalities to utilize funds through the NSRF with their own management authorities, but also energy democracy for the production of energy for the benefit of their structures and economically vulnerable households, were among the issues raised by the mayor, while the social problems resulting from the accuracy and high cost of housing, especially for students, were also discussed.
With Mr. Chrysostomou and the members of the Chamber, issues were raised regarding entrepreneurship, the inability of the extrajudicial mechanism to provide solutions in cases of debts, infrastructure, the Ioannina – Kakavia axis, the ban on the passage of trucks from the old Ioannina National Road – Athens, but also the barren air line Ioannina – Heraklion, for which, despite the state subsidy, the airlines show no interest.
“Ioannina has every possibility to attract new people, if we support the infrastructure, such as the road network, if we support the university, if we give tax incentives and a housing program, to help with the demographic problem of the country. I also had a meeting with the mayor, who set me his priorities, such as energy democracy, i.e. the possibility for the city and citizens to participate in energy production, which is not possible now. We at the disposal of local agencies. We also discussed the doubly barren air line, which obviously has to be done if we want to invest in decentralization and decentralized development”, stressed Mr. Kasselakis, pledging that his presence will be regular. “In the new model we are inaugurating, the leadership of the official opposition and the government we will build will start from society and will be accountable to society, with humility and grounding,” he concluded.