Minister visits Mati as regeneration plan debate begins
Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis on Thursday visited the small coastal town of Mati in eastern Attica, which was ravaged by disastrous wildfires in the summer of 2018 when more than 100 people died, as the government’s proposed plan for regenerating the area gets under way.
Hatzidakis visited the town with the president of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), Giorgos Stasinos, and held talks with local residents and groups representing those who lost relatives and properties in the tragedy about how to rebuild Mati.
The plan, Hatzidakis said, aims to build “a new, sustainable town.”
The aim is to avoid two extreme approaches, Hatzidakis said, neither enforcing town planning rules so strictly so as to result in “endless demolitions and social upheaval” nor enforcing short-term solutions that would put the area at risk of experiencing a similar disaster in the future.
