2024-02-28 19:35:14
At a special meeting of the municipal committee of the municipality of Rhodes on Thursday, February 29, the (official) start of negotiations with financial institutions or the Deposit and Loan Fund (TPKD) for obtaining a loan of twenty million euros due to lack of liquidity and financial constraints will be discussed .
Already the mayor, Mr. Alexandros Koliadis, the deputy mayor for finance, Kostas Chalkias, and officials of the Municipal Authority, had meetings with executives of banks and the TPkD in Athens on the occasion of the General Assembly of the PED S. Aegean held in Athens on February 16.
In short, the “preliminary procedures” have preceded, so that the “intentions” of the banks can be investigated, before the municipality enters the process of claiming the loan. According to the information, there are banks that responded positively to the prospect of granting a loan, while others allegedly responded negatively.
The finances of the municipality and the Butterfly Valley
The finances of the municipality also occupied yesterday’s regular meeting of the municipal committee with the mayor Mr. Koliadis stating that even with the payment of the May salary “there is a problem”. Mr. Koliadis emphasized that in the previous four years the municipality of Rhodes was one of the “worst nationwide” in terms of claiming and extracting resources from financial programs.
Reservations were expressed by officials of the municipal authority about the “large sums” available for the installation of turf and electric lighting in the fields, but also about the quality of the works, while the Valley of Butterflies … is in danger without the necessary measures to protect the of trees.
In particular, the municipal committee approved yesterday the updated tender documents and the drawing up of the conditions for the announcement of an open tender and the formation of the committee for the tender of the co-financed project: “Logging table concerning the affected Scots pine trees (Pinus brutia Ten.) from the area of the Valley of the Butterflies of the Municipality of Rhodes”.
The mayor, Mr. Alexandros Koliadis stated that the problem has existed for over five years and that foresters state that there is a serious risk of the destruction of the trees that surround the valley and also of the extinction of the rare butterfly (Panaxia Quadripunctaria) that finds refuge in this unique habitat that attracts many visitors every year.
For his part, the deputy mayor Mr. Kostas Chalkias expressed his concern for the Valley of Butterflies saying that: “I am saddened by the fact that in the previous ten assignments more than three million euros were spent on lawns, electric lighting of fields, which all we know that they will not be used or that they will be used very little. At the same time, issues like the Valley, where the forest is in danger of being destroyed, are low on our hierarchy as a State. I would like in this municipal committee to discuss a project of two or three million euros to solve the problem of the forest that surrounds the valley of the Butterflies, so that in the next 10 to 20 years we will have this unique natural monument.”
Commenting on the prioritization of projects by the previous municipal authority, Mr. Koliadis stated that: “Butterflies do not vote. Villagers vote. Let’s call a spade a spade.”