Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, presented a series of actions launched by the ministry to deal with the damage caused by the unprecedented floods in the aftermath of the storm ‘Daniel’, during the opening event of the 6th Infrastructure and Transport Conference – ITC 2023.
Staikouras pointed out that “our country, state and citizens, must be ready for other flooding phenomena with less intensity, but also destructive, which will certainty occur.” Therefore, he highlighted the two main pillars of action: the immediate restoration of the damage to the infrastructure of the affected areas, and the implementation of new projects, of higher resilience, in order to mitigate, as far as possible, future risks.
1st pillar: Immediate restoration of damage to the infrastructure of the affected areas with mainly road and railway projects
“Especially for the railway network, there is extensive damage. It requires funds and time. On both issues, there have been immediate government initiatives,” he said.
Regarding funds, he noted that with the revision of the National Resilience and Recovery Plan, infrastructure projects will be included, amounting to 500-600 million euros. Of these, more than 150 million euros will be required for the restructuring of the railway network.
2nd pillar: The implementation of new projects, of higher resilience, in order to mitigate, as much as possible, future risks
In this direction, as Staikouras emphasized, the contribution of experts and scientists will be needed, so that we can integrate the climate factor into the implementation of infrastructure projects.
