According to sources, the suggestion of the Hellenic Central Archaeological Council is about to be officially published, something that the involved parties expect in order to see in detail the exact areas defined as being of archaeological interest within the 6.200 acres area of Hellinikon.
The administration of the State Property Development Fund urged the Central Archaeological Council to proceed as soon as possible to the publishing of the official decision, as this will “speed up the implementation of the investment”.
The issue of the Hellinikon investment has reached Brussels as well. According to a formal announcement from the Commission on the investment is a MoU obligation and other statements from sources in Brussels called the case a “symbol of obstructionism and bureaucratic obstacles”.
The suggestion of the Central Archaeological Council to Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou is the first step in the signing the planned ministerial decision by the Ministry of Culture, in order to proceed with the Presidential Decree that will pave the way for the investment.
Lamda Development is also waiting the Council’s suggestion and the charts accompanying it in order to assess the impact on the master plan and the business plan and take an official position and, but stressing that it will remain committed to the signed agreements.
The issue of upholding the law in the Hellinikon investment was stressed yesterday by the vice-president of the Government, Yiannis Dragasakis, speaking to SKAI channel and stating in favor of the investments, but not with a…“Far West” mentality: “We are interested in the investment in Hellinikon as long as it proceeds on terms of legal certainty. There is no issue that we don’t want investments, the issue is under what conditions”.
According to Mr. Dragasakis, “we have a clear decision, compatible with the investment, and the Central Archaeological Council’s decision opens the way for the investment. I do not agree that we have to bury the archaeological findings, nor to make the whole of Greece a museum. We are in constant contact with the stakeholders and will do what we need in terms of legality”. Mr Dragasagis also said that “it was known to the institutions that there are archaeological findings and they are identified when the use of land changes”.
