Mitsotakis: Meeting with residents of the apartment building in Ampelokipi – The State undertakes the restoration

The state assistance framework to support owners and tenants who lived in the apartment building on Arcadia Street in Abelokipoi, which was severely damaged by the bomb blast, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced at a meeting with them this morning at the Maximou Mansion.

The prime minister noted that the Greek state will undertake the full restoration of the apartment building –in which there are 44 properties, including 9 commercial premises- having secured a private donation from GEK TERNA. At the same time, the tenants will be compensated for their building structure that was destroyed.

For the 9 to 12 months that work on the building is estimated to last, owners will be able to choose between receiving a housing allowance for finding a home to rent and relocating to the Ministry of National Defence camps in Agios Andreas. Tenants, as they search for new housing, will be able to stay in the Agios Andreas homes until the end of March 2025.

Also, for those of the owners and tenants who wish to do so, consideration is being given to extending their stay at the hotel where they are currently housed at government expense until a rental is found.

The cost of transporting the owners’ luggage to a place designated by them will be covered by the State, and facilities will be provided for the tenants.

Special provision is also expected to be made for those who have suffered damage in the exercise of professional activity related to the apartment building.

The preparation of the new relief framework was launched immediately after the block of flats was deemed totally unsuitable for habitation on the basis of a second static survey, which the government requested from the Technical Inspectorate in order to fully ensure the protection of the residents of the area.

The Ministry of Family and Social Cohesion has appointed a contact person for residents for any problems that may arise, while the General Secretariat for Civil Protection is in constant communication with them. The detailed presentation of the framework of state assistance was made to the affected people by the Minister of State Akis Skertos.

The following are the statements of the Prime Minister and residents:

Kyriakos Mitsotakis:Welcome, first of all, and we are glad to have you with us. I understand how difficult and shocking this experience must have been. We too were called upon to deal with a situation that we had not dealt with before, with what was essentially a terrorist attack that did not occur as it was fortunately planned, but which had a tragic impact on your daily lives and your properties, a complete disruption of the way you lived. That is why we have turned our attention to the problem and would like to present to you today a framework of interventions, both short and long term.

What I can tell you – before I give the floor to Akis and Sofia, to tell you how we can support you from now until the building is rebuilt – is that I have secured a donation from GEK TERNA to do all the interventions that are needed in the building as soon as possible in terms of its structural stability, taking into account the study and the work that the Technical Chamber has done, so that as soon as possible you can get back to normal life and we can restore the building and make it better than it was before.

So, that’s something that I want to get started as soon as possible and we’re left, obviously, with all the processes that need to be done to support you from now until the condominium is delivered.

Before I give the floor to Aki, can you give me an insight if there are things that I personally need to know about this that has happened and how much more we can help you.

Giannis Terzis: First of all, thank you for having us. You give us at least a hope, because we have serious problems, not only accommodation and vocational rehabilitation. So far where we are staying we are fine, but we want as soon as possible to get back to our daily routine, to our schedule.

Antonis Psaroudakis: Thank you very much and now that we are more calm we understand that the state when it wants to can stand by the citizen, because at the beginning we were desperate and we thank you very much.

We would like to make special mention, because we had direct communication with Mr. Chrysochoidis, who stood close to us, Mr. Papageorgiou, who stood and is still standing close to us and we thank him very much for all the interest he has shown and the restoration he has done to the affected people with the shelter and food.

And a special mention to the Commander of the Ampelokipoi Police Department, who not only stood as a professional, but also as a human being, which is incredible. Our Christina, we call her Christina now.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki, State Ministers Makis Voridis and Akis Skertosos, Deputy Minister of National Defence Yannis Kefalogiannis, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister George Mylonakis, Secretary General to the Prime Minister Stelios Koutnatzis, Secretary General for Civil Protection Vassilis Papageorgiou, President of the Technical Chamber of Greece George Stasinos and Deputy CEO and Technical Director General of Terna Alexander Michaelides.

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